This story was reported and written by our media partner Williamsburg Watch.
York County School Board members want to hear from county residents before making a decision on the name of Magruder Elementary School.
At a work session Monday night, they asked Superintendent Victor D. Shandor to bring a proposal to their regular meeting May 19 to survey county residents about the idea.
“I’d like to hear what the community says,” said District 1 Representative Mark J. Shafer, in whose district the school is located.
The future of Magruder’s name has been in play since 2020, when Bruton resident Mary Lassiter and her brother Carl Lassiter began a campaign to rename Magruder Elementary as well as James Blair Middle School in Williamsburg.
After a survey of stakeholders found only a third favored changing James Blair’s name, the Williamsburg-James City County school board tabled the idea last week.
James Blair is named for the slave-owning clergyman and colonial leader who was founder and first president of the College of William & Mary.
Gen. John B. Magruder, a Confederate general, ordered the destruction of Hampton by fire in August 1861 to prevent it from falling into Union hands and to stop the town from becoming a safe harbor for runaway slaves.
After public comments last fall, the York school board asked school administration officials to do more research into the school’s name. They concluded there have been multiple schools named Magruder dating back to 1868, and that they were named after either Fort Magruder or the village of Magruder, which was displaced by Camp Peary. That meant the school was indirectly named for the general, they concluded.
Since the school board has a policy of not naming schools after any living or dead person, 5th District Representative Lynda J. Fairman said if Magruder was renamed, then Tabb elementary, middle and high schools would also need to be renamed. Fairman said she had done research into the Tabb area, which is in her district, and found it was named after a Civil war era author, Mary Octavia Smith Tabb, who later became a postmaster.
Since changing school names could impact multiple schools and would bear a cost, Vice Chair James E. Richardson said he wanted to hear from county residents “before I commit to a decision.”
Board Chair Kimberly S. Goodwin asked Shandor to develop a plan that would maximize the integrity of the survey by restricting it to county residents and preventing anyone from voting more than once.
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