Following arguments that supported or opposed renaming Armstrong High School, RPS conducted a districtwide survey in September asking specific groups where they stood on the matter.

Alumni of John F. Kennedy High School — the school that originally occupied Armstrong High’s building — presented a proposal to rename the school the Armstrong-Kennedy High School in July. School Board members have been torn on what to do about it since. 

Nearly 380 individuals responded, with more than half of respondents being current students and staff. 

The results led to administrators suggesting that the school retain its current name, as 70% of current students and staff that responded voted in favor of such (143 votes). However, 84% of John F. Kennedy alumni and community members were in favor of a name change (136 votes). 

Board member Emmett Jafari (8th District), who pointed out the distinction, said the basis of the administration’s decision is opposite of what the data shows, even though more students and staff responded to the survey. 

Willie Bell, the division’s director for high school and athletics, responded, saying that he and other administrators would have wanted to receive more input from Armstrong alumni, but noted that the board wanted to specifically hear from current students in previous meetings. 

“We’re not discarding the former alumni of Armstrong or Armstrong-Kennedy, but … you all said you wanted to hear what our kids had to say, because they are [in the building] right now,” he said. 

While he agreed on wanting to hear from students, Jafari said those students may be out of the school in the next three to four years, whereas the community members responding are “established” and parents of current students. He suggested looking at the situation from a long-term perspective. 

“I’m not dismissive of what the current students and faculty think, but what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard — and what I’ve heard coming in here — really speaks [to] measures, giant measures to actually renaming the school,” he said. “I just want to make sure that we look at the whole proportion of it. Three to four years, in my estimation, should not outweigh … what the community and the alumni [from both schools] think.” 

Cheryl Burke (7th District) said the situation “hits home,” as a similar issue is currently happening at her former elementary school in her hometown, where some parts of the school will be demolished. She also reminded board members and the public of the decision the School Board made in 2004 to remove Kennedy’s name off being thrown out. the Armstrong building, which resulted in school memorabilia “When we stop calling the name, the history is gone,” she said. 

It was for that reason that she was one of the board members who requested having student input. But she also echoed Jafari’s concern, asking administrators “why did we ask the community and the parents” if the division was only going to pay attention to what students and staff said. 

She expressed concern with the way the survey was distributed, as some community members told her they were unaware of the survey. More responses would have been appreciated, she said. Solomon Jefferson, the district’s chief academic officer for secondary education, said administrators reached out to as many alumni from both schools as possible in a short amount of time. 

The recommendation also calls for placing a plaque outside the high school entrance to detail the school’s history and installing a display case inside the school’s entrance to honor the legacy of Kennedy High School. 

The board will vote on the matter in November. 

This story originally appeared on TheRichmonder.org.