Tyler residents for and against changing the name of Robert E. Lee High School have renewed their efforts to persuade the Tyler ISD board.

The push comes after a June 7 action item on the matter was removed from the agenda in late May. On June 18, the board will consider taking action to change the name to “Lee High School.”

Since August of 2017, residents have argued in favor and against the issue. In a district as large as Tyler ISD, with more than 18,000 students, such a task is a complicated matter.

To help explain the issue, the Tyler Morning Telegraph has put together a list of frequently asked questions, compiled from our reporting during the past year.

CAN THE BOARD PUT IT TO A PUBLIC VOTE?

No. School trustees addressed this request during their September meeting when they discussed the issue, noting that they do not have the authority to put a name change to a public vote.

The board can only call a vote for member elections and tax changes.

How would costs associated with the name change be paid for?

The funding would come out of the district’s general fund. As nearly every item that would need to be changed is on a replacement cycle, such as uniforms, or will be included in the current renovation, it is hard to say what the true cost would be.

For example, new band uniforms would cost about $95,000, but they are on a seven-year cycle, with an expected reorder in 2020. However, the district often extends the life of uniforms in good shape, so cycles can vary by sport, activity and use.

The signage will almost all be included in the renovation. Only the fieldhouse, varsity gym and theater will remain of the old Lee campus, and those will all undergo significant remodeling.

If the board waits until after an October deadline to order the sign for the new school, it could cost anywhere from $45,000 to redesign the sign to $465,000 to bring down the sign, redesign it and install a new one.

WHAT IS THE COMMUNITY SAYING?

During the August meeting, more than 40 members of the community spoke about the name change, with those speaking for and against split about evenly. Since that meeting, those in support of the change have maintained a presence at every board meeting. During a May meeting, more than two dozen speakers addressed the board, most of them current Lee students, arguing that now is the time for a change. Only one person spoke against changing the name at that meeting.

Various community groups have organized to ask the board to change the name. A formal group, called the Tyler ISD Parent Coalition, formed to signal to the board that they would not be giving up on the issue. The group gathered outside of the Tyler ISD administration building before the June 7 board workshop and wrote postcards with positive messages, encouraging the board to put the issue to a vote at its next meeting.

A group called Save Our Name has formed and been collecting signatures online and in person with petitions to keep the name.

On social media, you can find arguments on both sides.

WHY WASN’T THE NAME ISSUE BROUGHT UP BEFORE NOW?

The issue has been brought up in the past, but never taken up for serious consideration by the board.

Federal Judge William Wayne Justice in 1970 ordered the district to implement a desegregation plan prepared by federal and state officials. The order’s purpose was to create one school system with no discrimination based on race, and it spelled out details of how the district would integrate — which schools would house which grades, which streets would be zoned to which schools, and how the reassignment of teachers would be implemented. A separate desegregation order covered all Texas schools.

In 1972, Lee students voted to adopt the “Red Raider” theme for its flag and ring, among other items, and left behind the Confederate flag, the rebel mascot and the school song, “Dixie.”

WHY WAS THE NAME LEE SELECTED?

While no documentation has been found that explicitly covers the thoughts of those who named the school, all of its imagery featured Confederate symbolism and the school was intended to only house white students.

Searches of archives at the Smith County Historical Society revealed little about the reasoning behind the name. Meeting minutes entrusted to the SCHS were brief, running only about one paragraph per meeting.

The minutes reveal that the board voted to approve the name after reviewing a list of submitted names in 1957 and in April 1958 students chose the rebels mascot, based on votes taken throughout the year.

The cover of the 1960 yearbook features the new rebel mascot carrying a confederate flag as well as a multi-page spread on all of the confederate imagery used by the school, including the school’s Confederate Battle Flag which was the second largest in the nation.

Robert E. Lee has no known association with Tyler or East Texas.

WHAT PROMPTED THE GROUP TO RENEW A PUSH FOR CHANGE?

The summer of 2017 saw a nationwide push for the removal of Confederate imagery from public places. Schools across Texas with names tied to the Confederacy have taken up the issue, with many voting to change the names of those campuses. Several cities also have removed statues linked to Confederate figures.

Those supporting a change cited the national support and the timing coinciding with a near total rebuild of the campus.

WHAT ARE THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF TYLER ISD AND LEE HIGH SCHOOL?

The district and Lee’s demographics have changed greatly since the federal desegregation order was put in place in the 1970s.

In the early 1970s, TISD served a student population that was 67 percent white and 32 percent black. The district is now composed of more than 78 percent minority populations.

At Robert E. Lee High School, which has about 2,500 students, the largest populations are white, at 38.9 percent; black, at 28.3 percent; and Hispanic, at 27.7 percent.

HOW MANY OTHER SCHOOLS ARE NAMED FOR ROBERT E. LEE?

There are currently 38 schools in the United States named for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

About 100 schools currently named for prominent members of the Confederacy have been identified and 39 have been renamed.

The organization has identified more than 110 Confederate symbols that have been removed since last summer, with 1,728 still standing.

The SPLC also notes that the majority of Confederate symbols went up during two periods, the early 1900s during the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and during the civil rights movement from 1954 to 1968.

According to a recent look at confederate imagery in Texas by the Texas Tribune, Austin, Tyler and Marshall are tied with the most physical symbols with seven. It should be noted that Austin has eight listed, but one item listed, Confederate Heroes Day, is a state holiday, and two of the roads listed were recently approved for renaming by the Austin City Council.

WHAT ABOUT JOHN TYLER HIGH SCHOOL?

While many community members said they are open to also changing the name of John Tyler High School, it is not a major point of debate for them. While those in favor of keeping the name argue that if Lee goes, John Tyler also will have to.

John Tyler is the namesake of the city of Tyler, which was founded in 1846, well before the Civil War. John Tyler is revered in Texas for his role in helping Texas become part of the United States, not for his later role as a member of the Confederate States of America.

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