CHARLOTTESVILLE (WINA) – A committee reviewing the names of city schools plans to recommend that two more elementaries be given new names, with the proposed new names to be decided later this month. The schools’ Naming of Facilities Committee made the decision after reviewing public input for changing the names of Johnson and Burnley-Moran elementaries.

A CCS release says In the cases of these two schools, the three namesakes – Carrie Burnley, Sarepta Moran, and James G. Johnson – all served Charlottesville’s racially segregated white schools as teacher, principal, or superintendent. The public feedback and the committee’s decision recognized that, regardless of the accomplishment or merit of these individuals, these schools’ names commemorate an era of segregated education that no longer reflects the division’s values.

Both schools have two possible new names that have received about equal levels of community support (at Burnley-Moran, Blue Mountain and Rivanna; at Johnson, Cherry Avenue and Forest Hills).