Federal Court Orders Virginia County to Rename Schools After Judge Finds Confederate Designations Violated Students’ Rights

A federal judge in Virginia sided with the state NAACP on Thursday, determining that Shenandoah County’s school board unlawfully discriminated against Black students by reverting two school names back to Confederate military figures. U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski found the board violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act when it restored the names in 2024. The court ordered the board to select replacement names without regard to race.

The board had voted 5-1 to change Mountain View High School back to Stonewall Jackson High School and Honey Run Elementary back to Ashby-Lee Elementary, which honors Gen. Robert E. Lee and Confederate cavalry officer Turner Ashby. This decision reversed a 2020 removal of those names that followed nationwide racial justice protests. Judge Urbanski wrote that reinstating Confederate designations constitutes active discrimination, distinguishing it from passive failure to remove long-standing symbols.

The Virginia NAACP filed suit in June 2024 on behalf of six students and parents, arguing that Black students—comprising less than 3% of the district’s enrollment—would be forced to endorse Confederate symbolism tied to slavery and modern white supremacist movements. The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs represented the plaintiffs.

School board members who voted for the restoration stated they reflected community sentiment and that 2020’s removal lacked proper constituent input and due process. The NAACP president, Rev. Cozy Bailey, characterized the 2024 decision as inexplicable outside a racial context.