Federal Judge Says Virginia County Must Change School Names

An Obama-appointed federal judge ruled Thursday evening that the Shenandoah County School Board broke federal civil rights laws when it brought back Confederate school names two years ago, and ordered the monikers be removed promptly.

This is NOT a surprise to those involved, and sources close to the case tell us that the county has been preparing for this decision for months, and THERE WILL BE AN APPEAL FILED.  The signs are NOT coming down. 

Background: In 2020, the original school names were removed when the sitting school board decided to cave to the pressure of leftist activists and ignore the will of local residents, who were overwhelmingly against the change.  In the wake of that decision, a grassroots coalition was formed which worked diligently over the next 4 years to vote out each member who voted for the change, and run candidates who were willing to listen to the people and undo the wrong.

Their hard work and perseverance paid off in 2024 with a resounding victory when the new school board voted to RESTORE THE NAMES, which served as a shining example of how hard work and dedication pays off to return what has been stolen.

The local NAACP wasted no time in persuading a student to join them in suing the county.  

Last September, U.S. District Court Judge Michael F. Urbanski sided with the NAACP, writing that the board violated students’ First Amendment rights and that Jackson’s name “is expressive as a symbol of racial exclusion in public schools.”

On Thursday, Urbanski said the school board also broke civil rights laws, including the 14th Amendment, the Civil Rights Act, and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act. He ordered the board to remove the names and adopt new ones on a “racially nondiscriminatory basis” to be completed “with all deliberate speed.”

Evidently, the NAACP assumed the school board would quickly cave in the face of the lawsuit, as they had done in HANOVER COUNTY, VA several years before. 

 
They could not have been more wrong.

The people of Shenandoah County have spoken loud and clear and the school board is determined to allow the citizens of the county, not a federal judge, decide who should names their schools. This injustice will most certainly be appealed, and a higher court will rightfully put an end to this nonsense.  

 

For more information about how you can help, including donating to the legal fund to help fight against this massive overreach, visit https://www.thecoalitionforbetterschools.net/defense