A predominately black public school in Mississippi named after Jefferson Davis will have its Confederate tied namesake stripped next year and replaced with the title of another president whose character students, parents and teachers have said is more fitting— Barack Obama.

Davis Magnet IB PTA President Janelle Jefferson announced at the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday evening that school stakeholders voted on Oct. 5 to rename the school Barack Obama Magnet IB.

“Jefferson Davis, although infamous in his own right, would probably not be too happy about a diverse school promoting the education of the very individuals he fought to keep enslaved being named after him,” she told the board.

A demographic breakdown of Davis Magnet’s enrollment for the 2017 school lists 98 percent of the school’s students as black.

Overall, JPS’ enrollment is 97 percent black.

Jefferson said the school community wanted to rename the campus “to reflect a person who fully represents ideals and public stances consistent with what we want our children to believe about themselves.”

“I wholeheartedly agree with the name,” said Board President Camille Simms.

The announcement brought a jovial mood to the room.

Attendees were aware of the possibility that Tuesday’s board meeting could be the last for the district in the long time. The state Board of Education requested in September for Gov. Phil Bryant to declare JPS in a state of emergency. That move would trigger a state takeover.

Bryant is expected to make a decision this week on whether to approve the board’s resolution.

His signature would result in the disbandment of the school board.

It was actually the possibility of being unable to meet again that spurred the board members at their Sept. 19 meeting to delegate their naming authority to PTA groups at three schools —Davis Magnet, George Elementary and Lee Elementary, named after Confederate leaders.

At the time, the board’s attorney Dorian Turner advised that it was unclear whether the board had the authority to abdicate its responsibility.

On Tuesday, she confirmed, however, that the name change would be able to take place for the 2018-19 school year.

There are still logistics to work out, and Jefferson said the school and other partners, such as corporate sponsors, are expected to raise costs for the actual name change.

Updates on renaming efforts for George Elementary and Lee Elementary were not immediately available.

Contact Bracey Harris at 601-961-7248 or bharris2@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter.

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My, what a brave new world we live in.

How much will the taxpayer fork over to change the name?

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
Attendees were aware of the possibility that Tuesday’s board meeting could be the last for the district in the long time. The state Board of Education requested in September for Gov. Phil Bryant to declare JPS in a state of emergency. That move would trigger a state takeover.

For anybody who wonders why our "education" system is so poor, especially in particular "economically disadvantaged" areas, here's part of the answer.

The school system is doing so poorly that it's about to be taken over by the state--presumably to prevent it from going bankrupt and having to close its doors. Yet what it and it's parents are worried about is the name on a building.



It isn't "the man" keeping you down, idiots. You're keeping yourselves down.

I remember when they didn't name things after public figures until after they had passed away.
There was a lot of wisdom in that approach.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
It isn't "the man" keeping you down, idiots. You're keeping yourselves down.

Getting just HALF of the "free shit" crowd to realize this would be a GIANT leap forward. Yet their free shit has clouded what little judgement and intelligence they possessed. If generation after generation after generation is raised to think you can sit on your lazy ass and get hundreds, even thousands, of dollars a month without doing a gd thing, then that's the ethic you'll live by.

Unfortunately, we see it..."they" don't.

Spray paint the new name on the school with rattle cans. Keeping it real.

With any of these issues with the South, my first question is always, "when was this done?". Regardless of what "it/this" is. Flag, school name, statue, or whatever.

If this school was named after Jefferson Davis in 1866, then keep it, on the other hand, if it was named this in 1960, then clearly the last things on the minds of the Mississippi officials was to "honor" Davis.

Want to really honor the south, then teach it, North and South, good and bad. Hell, I would bet that 90% of America (South included) could not even properly identify the "confederate" flag. All I ever see is the Naval Jack or the battle flag of Northern Virginia.

quote:

Originally posted by blueye:
Spray paint the new name on the school with rattle cans. Keeping it real.

Exactly. From the sounds of it, the district is broke and broken.

You want a name change? Spray paint it. Don't spend money you don't have on something as stupid as a name change when you could spend the money on teachers/supplies/etc.

quote:

“Jefferson Davis, although infamous in his own right, would probably not be too happy about a diverse school....

A demographic breakdown of Davis Magnet’s enrollment for the 2017 school lists 98 percent of the school’s students as black.

Overall, JPS’ enrollment is 97 percent black.

Diverse? I do not think those people grasp what the term diverse means. Of course, since the state is readying to take over the district due to its utter failure to operate as an educational entity, we probably have our answer right there.

I thought this was about a school in Indonesia....

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
The school system is doing so poorly that it's about to be taken over by the state--presumably to prevent it from going bankrupt and having to close its doors. Yet what it and it's parents are worried about is the name on a building.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Diverse? I do not think those people grasp what the term diverse means.

Well, based on the above, it is apparently one of diverse schools in the state!

On a serious note, how about we come up with a program where every failing school in the country gets named after Obama?

quote:

Originally posted by rscalzo:
How much will the taxpayer fork over to change the name?

$4.98 for the spray can of spray paint used to alter the name.

RMD

It's a good thing the student body is virtually entirely Black. White kids (or their fathers) would probably burn the school down after the name change....

flashguy