Trustee Orenthia Mason described it as a “challenging decision, which in the end, will result in no winners.”

“There are no winners when hatred, racism, personal attacks, electronic threats, news media frenzy, public spectacles, divisive language, ring out from our lips, pens and hearts,” Mason said. “In the end, it really is about this present generation of students and future generations.”

Trustee Andy Bergfeld said there were red flags at every turn saying, “This is not right, not this way.” He said if the board voted to change the name of one or both high schools, it was his belief that “TISD will never be the same.”

He also said it would be dishonest to voters who overwhelmingly approved a $198 million bond issue last year to substantially rebuild both high schools. 

“The voters passed a bond for a new Robert E. Lee and new John Tyler and it would be politically dishonest for us to force the clear majority of the voters to take it like a man while we pull a bait-and-switch,” Bergfeld said. 

Martinez said the board is tasked with doing what is right for current and future students and he was choosing to be on the right side of history in supporting the name change.

“Our kindergartners are the Class of 2031 and we’re now having to address this because our predecessors did not, so one of my questions and concerns is what are we going to do to the board that follows us? Are we going to kick this can down to them? To me it doesn’t seem right,” Martinez said. 

He said no matter what the board had done up until this point, this is how they’re going to be remembered.

“I’ve been saying this for a year now, this is not going to go away,” Martinez said. “We have the power right now to change the conversation from one filled with anger and negativity to a positive one — a conversation of who and what is worthy of representing all of us.”

Hager spoke last, saying said he wanted to respond to several questions he had been asked over the course of the debate.

The first was, “Where does this end?”

He said the debate should end with Robert E. Lee because he had no tie to the area and had been used as a symbol of racism.

Several audience members voiced disapproval when Hager went through this reasoning.

“Robert E. Lee is an active symbol of the Confederacy and an idol of white supremacists, more popular today than the president of the Confederacy,” Hager said. “Nobody carries a picture of John Tyler to a Klan rally. Nobody rallies around his statues. Lee is an active, current symbol of a movement that is inconsistent with our values.”

Hager said that at its best a name conveys a community’s values and should inspire pride in its schools and students. He said the name Robert E. Lee fails to meet those criteria.

The second question he sought to answer was one asked by Bergfeld nearly a year ago. “Is it right to compel a student of color to attend a school named after the most famous Confederate general?”

“Implicit in that question is the recognition that a student of color can reasonably, rationally and understandably respond differently to a Confederate symbol,” Hager said. “Does the name of the famous Confederate who fought to keep her ancestors enslaved tell a young African-American girl that she has unlimited potential to excel in school, to keep pushing when it gets hard?”

Hager said, in answer to that question, that no, it is not fair to send an African-American child to a school named after Lee.

“It is not fair, nor did it become fair because people are upset by the question,” Hager said. “It did not become fair because the issue has become political, it did not become fair because some members in our community, on both sides, have acted in a way that are not constructive or helpful.”

Before Martinez moved to change the name, Mason questioned what would happen next. Believing a vote was pending, Hager said if the vote was to change the name they would develop a process for renaming it. If the vote was to keep the name, Hager said it was his intention to abide by the vote.

“If the board votes to keep the name or names the same, it’s my intention to interpret that as this board has spoken on the issue and I would have no intention for the remainder of my term to raise this issue again,” Hager said.

“We have a policy that says any board member can request an agenda item at any time but if this board decides to act decisively one way or another tonight I would ask that we all agree to abide by the decision of the majority of the trustees.”

In a statement issued late Monday, Hager said even though he supported the name change, he had no plans to place the item on a future agenda and he hoped any future agenda requests on the issue would be submitted by at least two trustees. 

Residents on both sides of the issue said they were surprised the board didn’t take a vote Monday.

Charles Smart, a Tyler resident who has spoken in favor of keeping the name, said the lack of a vote caught him off guard.

“I was totally surprised, I’m very happy,” Smart said after the meeting. “When it happened, I asked the people in front of me, ‘Did we just win?’”

Audience member Ronald Perdue said the board made the right decision.

“I think they came to the right conclusion because the citizens of Tyler, the majority, do not want a change and they were in error just by bringing this up,” Perdue said.

Kenneth Butler, a local radio host, said he was disappointed by the lack of a vote. 

“That’s what our democracy is — we vote. They wouldn’t even vote,” Butler said. “That was cowardly, in my opinion.”

Butler said he was in favor of the name change because, “How can our children really learn when that symbol is hanging over their head?”

Rachel Neal, an incoming junior at Robert E. Lee High School who has advocated for the name change, said she was disappointed in the lack of a vote and said the issue would remain. 

“It’s not over,” Neal said. “It wasn’t over in 1970, it’s not over now.”

Since the issue first emerged, the possibility of a name change has divided the community, as factions formed on each side of the debate. The resulting dialogue has seen low points, with local residents name-calling and lashing out against members of the other side on social media, and more constructive comments, such as those made during the four school board meetings that saw heavy public comment on the issue.

Efforts to change the name started as a grass-roots campaign on social media that came amid a national push to remove symbols of the Confederacy, which escalated after a man drove into a group of people peacefully protesting a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one and injuring 19 on Aug. 12, 2017.

The Aug. 21 Tyler ISD school board meeting saw more than 200 people pack the boardroom, with more than 40 community members speaking during the meeting, almost equally split on whether or not to change the name.

As public pressure mounted for the district to change the name of the campus, the board in September seemed to signal support for a change but asked constituents to wait until the academic year was over before taking up the debate.

However, in May, as the school year was nearing its end, the board indicated discussion on the matter was over because there wasn’t support on the board for a change.

That prompted community outcry, urging a board vote, and another round of public comments at the June and July board meetings.

In June, board Vice President Wade Washmon requested a vote for a partial name change to “Lee High School.” That meeting saw 75 people speak during the public comment portion of the meeting, with people on both sides of the debate telling the board that a partial change was not an acceptable compromise.

The board decided to table the vote, and vowed to bring the public into the conversation in order to find a way forward. Trustees described the type of discourse they would like to see and the meeting ended with the board seemingly suggesting they would move forward with those ideas.

By the board’s July meeting, trustees once again expressed their frustration with having to focus on the issue. They rejected community input meetings or a subcommittee, instead opting to take an up or down vote on whether to rename the school. 

Check out our gallery of photos from the event on focusinon.me.