The JAX Chamber board of directors announced April 16 it unanimously passed a resolution asking the Duval County School Board to change the names of six public schools that are named after Confederate soldiers.
“This is an economic development issue,” JAX Chamber Chair Henry Brown, who serves as president and CEO of Miller Electric, said in the news release.
“We are asking companies to invest here, and for top talent to move and live here. We say that we are open to everyone and I believe that we are. But, right now, we have six school names that tell African Americans otherwise.”
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While the chamber is not asking the school board to revise its process for renaming schools which began last year it is pressing Superintendent Diana Greene to recommend new names for the six schools and for the school board to approve those recommendations in its votes.
Greene s recommendation is expected in mid-to-late May.
“This is an economic development issue,” JAX Chamber Chair Henry Brown, who serves as President and CEO of Miller Electric, said in a statement. “We are asking companies to invest here, and for top talent to move and live here. We say that we are open to everyone and I believe that we are. But, right now, we have six school names that tell African Americans otherwise.”