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Judge Orders Virginia Schools Rename Confederate Names Over Equality Violation

8/8/2026

Summary

Story summary

Judge Michael F. Urbanski ordered Shenandoah County, Virginia, school board to rename two schools because Confederate-name reinstatement violated Black students’ 14th Amendment equal-protection rights.
Board voted 5-1 to rename them Stonewall Jackson High and Ashby-Lee Elementary and select new names “on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with deliberate speed.”
NAACP sued in June 2024 on behalf of six students and parents, citing Black students make up under 3 % of the district.

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Story summary

Judge Michael F. Urbanski ordered Shenandoah County, Virginia, school board to rename two schools because Confederate-name reinstatement violated Black students’ 14th Amendment equal-protection rights.
Board voted 5-1 to rename them Stonewall Jackson High and Ashby-Lee Elementary and select new names “on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with deliberate speed.”
NAACP sued in June 2024 on behalf of six students and parents, citing Black students make up under 3 % of the district.