After years of discussion and at least one false start on the city school renaming process, the Charlottesville School Board adopted a new policy at its Dec. 7 meeting that leaves open the possibility of keeping the existing names of some schools.

As adopted, the new policy allows the school board to name schools for any entity, quality or ideal that the school board deems worthy of recognition (purpose) or for the local history or geographic area of the school (place).

An outspoken critic of the renaming process says he is cautiously optimistic.

“I think the new policy is generally good, however its merit will be judged ultimately by its interpretation and application,” says Chuck Moran, a great-nephew of Charlottesville educator and Burnley-Moran Elementary School namesake Sarepta Moran.

Moran his sister, Ginger Moran, believe the renaming process has falsely maligned their great aunt as a white supremacist due to her 1906 application to join the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

“All we really know is that my great aunt applied for membership,” Moran said in a Dec. 5 interview on Charlottesville Right Now. He cites a profile of his aunt that describes her as being an active participant in the organization’s activities at the time, when in fact, no such evidence exists. 

“The documents that the school board presented paint her guilt by association with being behind the rewriting of the textbooks and supporting the statues and all kinds of things,” Moran said.

The school board voted to rename Venable Elementary School as Trailblazer Elementary School and Clark Elementary School as Summit Elementary in January. Those names could go into effect as early as Fall 2024. Buford Middle School will become Charlottesville Middle School in Fall 2025.

In April, the school board voted to change the names of Burnley-Moran Elementary School and Johnson Elementary schools but “paused” the choice of new names after deciding the initial picks were unsuitable.  

The school board has not made plans to change the name of the city’s alternative school, Lugo-McGinnis Academy, named for two renowned Black educators.

Moran hopes the school board will follow the City of Arlington’s method for school naming in which a person’s principle legacy is considered to determine worthiness.

“A set of criteria is applied to the preponderance of someone’s activities, values and the type of life they led,” Moran said in an interview following the recent Charlottesville School Board meeting.

Four new members will join the school board in January, and Moran says he’ll continue paying attention to the renaming process and wonders where the new policy will lead.

“Will go through a much better process or will it be pushed off ‘til it dies by neglect?”

Hear the full interview with Chuck Moran here.