The governing board of the biggest school district in Texas has voted to rename seven schools previously named for Confederate leaders.
The Houston school district board voted Thursday to rename the following schools:
Lee High School formerly named for General Robert E. Lee will be named for longtime Houston educator Margaret Long Wisdom.
Johnston Middle School formerly named for General Albert Sidney Johnston becomes Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School.
Jackson Middle School named in honor of General Stonewall Jackson will be named for Hispanic community activist Yolanda Black Navarro.
The school named for Confederate President Jefferson Davis, located in the Northside neighborhood, becomes Northside High School.
Confederate Postmaster General John H. Reagan's namesake high school located in the Houston Heights neighborhood will now be called Heights High School.
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Sabine Pass commander Dick Dowling was the man behind Dowling Middle School, it has been renamed Audrey H. Lawson Middle School
And in the least drastic change, the board also approved changing Lanier Middle School, which was named for poet and Confederate veteran Sidney Lanier, to Bob Lanier Middle School, for the former Houston mayor.
When it embarked on the renaming process, the district said it wanted names to represent its modern values and diversity, in accordance with its non-discrimination policies.
The new names will go into effect with the 2016-17 school year according to KPRC-TV.
