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VA High School Named for Confederate General Could Be Changed

civil war photo

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) - A two-year debate over whether to change the name of a northern Virginia high school honoring a Confederate general is coming to an end.

The Fairfax County school board is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to change the name of J.E.B. Stuart High in Falls Church.

The debate over the name began in earnest in 2015 when Hollywood actress Julianne Moore, who attended Stuart in the '70s, launched a petition supporting the name change.

The school board appointed a committee to study the issue and come up with a compromise, but the committee fractured so badly that it produced two separate reports - one supporting a name change and one in opposition.

School system officials say changing the name could cost up to $900,000.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.