NOLA-PS Facilities Renaming Initiative Now Underway

Public Feedback Welcomed, Starting Feb. 25

(New Orleans – February 24, 2021) — During the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) Committee Meeting, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) announced the official kickoff of its School Facilities Renaming Initiative.

The initiative, designed to outline a plan to assess the names of all District facilities, is in response to recent public requests, and in accordance with board policy, to rename school buildings that better represent our school community, our students, and the future NOLA-PS is working towards.

"The Orleans Parish School Board believes all schools should be welcoming, inclusive, and inspiring places for all students," said OPSB Board President Ethan Ashley. "Our desire is to ensure the names of our school facilities and the people that we honor through renaming reflect the values of our school district."

NOLA-PS is looking to finish an initiative that began in the 1990s to remove remnants of a time when all Americans were not regarded as equal. This important work produced more than 25 community-based name changes to facilities and school programs throughout the District, but this sweeping change did not remove all homages to a racist past.

"Now is the time to make this change happen," said NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. "In spite of the devastation last year brought, we are now presented with a unique opportunity to do better, to rise to the occasion, to recognize the urgency of this moment, to acknowledge the realities of our past and to chart a better course towards our future that prioritizes equity and inclusion for all New Orleanians."

To that end, it's critical to note this initiative is not about just changing signs on buildings. It's about starting a conversation among our young people, their families, and our community at large about the history and implications of continuing to honor figures from our painful past.

It's the reason this renaming effort will be a community effort. NOLA Public Schools is New Orleans. So, we need the voices of our neighbors, families, and friends to help guide this process, and the District will begin accepting public comment Thursday, Feb. 25 – Monday, April 19.

Recommendations for both District facilities to rename and people to be honored through this initiative will be accepted via the following three mediums:

1. Email - community@nolapublischools.com

2. During public meetings, and

3. Via mail - Renaming Initiative, 2401 Westbend Parkway, Suite 5096, New Orleans, LA 70114. 

For more information visit, www.nolapublicschools.com/renaming

The timeline for the project is as follows:

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About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district's administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.

For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.