ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) — The Abilene Independent School District (AISD)has released a list of names to be considered to rename Jackson, Johnston, and Lee Elementary schools.
In September, the Board of Trustees for AISD unanimously voted to change the names of the three schools named after confederate leaders.
A committee consisting of community members, students, and parents connected to the affected schools was then formed to recommend the names by Dec. 3.
In alphabetical order by last name, here is the list of 12 the committee has recommended for additional consideration for the renaming of Jackson, Johnston and Lee elementary schools:
- Val Brailsford – longtime AISD educator
- Sonny G. Castillo – former custodian at Johnston
- Aline “Andy” Cleveland – long AISD time educator, retired with 51 years of service in 2011
- Odis Dolton – Abilene community leader
- Sgt. Reuben Marcus Fernandez – former AISD student; killed in action
- Raymond B. Hayden – principal at Woodson Elementary for 42 years
- Charles Hundley – former AISD superintendent
- Katherine Johnson – famed mathematician who was one of the first African American women to work at NASA
- Susan Petty – longtime music teacher in the AISD
- Eugene Purcell – longtime AISD teacher / administrator
- Robert and Sammye Stafford – pioneer in providing education to African American families in Abilene; AISD teacher of the year in 1958
- James A. Stovall – former principal at Dyess, Alta Vista, Fair Park, and Crockett, 42 years of service
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