Other nominations for the East End school’s new name include Barbara Johns Elementary — in honor of the woman who in 1951 led a student protest in Farmville that helped led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision — and Church Hill Elementary.

School Board Vice Chairwoman Cheryl Burke, whose 7th District includes Mason, said she appreciates the public feedback because it is her job to advocate for the most popular choice from her constituents.

She said the feedback from the public hearings and online feedback forms will be taken into consideration and that the board will make a collective decision.

Critics of the decision to rename the school point to Mason’s record of developing the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which served as a basis for the U.S. Bill of Rights. But Mason also owned roughly 100 slaves during his lifetime, according to the website of his 18th-century estate Gunston Hall.