Lee High School renaming committee selects final 3 potential new names; Awaiting superintendent's pick
BATON ROUGE - The school renaming committee tasked with helping to change Lee High's name has narrowed down thousands of name suggestions to just three.
The following suggested names were selected on Monday night:
- Liberty Magnet High School
- Louisiana Magnet High School
- PBS Pinchback Magnet High School
JUST IN: The committee has selected the follow three names as the final suggestions to rename Lee High School:
— Trey Couvillion (@treycouvtv) July 14, 2020
- Liberty Magnet High School
- Louisiana Magnet High School
- PBS Pinchback Magnet High School@WBRZ
There were over 5,000 responses to an online survey that asked for new school name suggestions. Among the top names in the suggested responses were "Southdowns," "Lee High," "PBS Pinchback," and "Sadie Roberts-Joseph."
In June, the East Baton Rouge School Board voted to establish the 13 member committee after school board member Dadrius Lanus wrote a letter to the entire board asking them to revisit the issue. The school was originally named Robert E. Lee High School in 1959.
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In 2016, then school board members narrowly voted to drop the "Robert E." in the school's name.
The three final names selected will be submitted to EBR Superintendent Warren Drake, who will then pick one name for the school board to vote on Thursday night.
Since it's now known as Lee Magnet High, committee members said that the names "Liberty Magnet High" and "Louisiana Magnet High" would coincide with the schools current lettering.
PBS Pinchback was the first African-American governor in the United State during reconstruction.
The school board, ultimately, has complete authority over the decision. Board members can accept the superintendent's suggested name or go with another name they see fit.