The Tulsa School Board votes to step back from changing the name of ‘Robert E. Lee Elementary’ to just ‘Lee Elementary’. The board took the action last night after school patrons and other community leaders came forward to say the proposed change did not go far enough to remove the Confederate stigma of the Lee name.
Robert E. Lee is one of the oldest schools in Tulsa. It is at the west end of the fashionable Maple Ridge neighborhood.
Earlier this spring, the board had approved dropping ‘Robert E.’ from the title. However, there was a community back lash to that decision.
The board will begin the process anew. A committee will consider new names and move forward a proposal to the board for consideration.
The board has already changed the names of three other schools in Tulsa because of a namesake’s ties to slavery or the mistreatment of natives.