Citizens seek Lee High referendum at passionate meeting, but rules don’t allow one

Julia Fair | The News Leader

STAUNTON — A few Staunton residents opposing a Lee High School name change made their way to the microphone at the Staunton City Council meeting Thursday evening.

With T-shirts sporting "Save Lee High" buttons and short speeches in hand, residents explained their fiscal and community concerns about a possible name change.

"People in our community have been bullied and harassed," said Louis T. March.

March told council that two women handing out "Save the Name" signs near Gypsy Hill park were harassed just the other day.

The community shows signs of divisiveness he's never seen before, March said.

More: Lee High name change could cost $200,000 to replace athletic uniforms

The fiscal impact of the name change worries March. He cited a $500,000 cost to change the name, but the school board has only put out an estimated $200,000 cost concerning athletic uniforms.

That would only be the case if the school changed the names on the athletic uniforms at the same time.

In a recent News Leader report, the Virginia High School League, the governing body for high school sports, said if the name changes, the school does not need to change the athletic uniforms all at once. That means that a renamed Lee High School could avoid paying any additional uniform cost at all, if it was willing to be patient with uniform branding. It would need to wait for scheduled replacement of clothing in order to happen.

More: VHSL doesn't require Staunton to change all athletic uniforms at same time

March said any cost associated with "rebranding" the high school is an unneeded one. He cited other fiscal concerns within the city, including the troubles Bessie Weller Elementary School faces to be accredited.

More: Will new accreditation system save three schools?

He also called the possible name change "cultural cleansing" and insisted that the City of Staunton petition the Virginia General Assembly to open a referendum, which would allow citizens to vote on if the change should be changed.

More: 'But the name hurts' signs vandalized

Lee High School name change controversy

Mayor Carolyn Dull said Staunton is not able to open a referendum to allow the citizens to vote, because the authority to do so is not written in the city charter.

The City of Staunton and the Staunton City School Board has put out releases in the past that state a referendum is not an option.

Fritz Fairfield explained the Lee High name change debate as an analogy to the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the Piedmont region on Aug. 23, 2011. The seven year anniversary of the quake was the night of the meeting.

Fairfield said she was upset that taxpayer dollars might go toward renaming the school instead of rebuilding one.

The Staunton City School Board has said in its releases that the cost of the possible name change could be absorbed in the construction costs of the school renovation.

The individuals with their "Save Lee High" buttons sparked someone else in the audience to speak up.

Jeff Overholtzer was not expecting to speak to city council on Thursday. But he set his laptop down, gripped the side of the podium and spoke to council.

More: Decision on Lee High name could come later this summer

If the name isn't changed, Overholtzer said he will be disappointed.

"It's a symbolic act to change the name of a high school," Overholtzer said. "But it's significant."