Robert E. Lee Elementary School renaming supporters bring signs to the March 28 board of trustees meeting, in which the board voted 8-0 with one abstention to change the name.[/caption] The Austin ISD board of trustees approved renaming Robert E. Lee Elementary School in Central Austin during its regular board meeting March 28, beginning a two-month process that includes finding a new name for the school. The board voted 8-0 with one abstention. Trustee Ann Teich abstained from voting, saying she can't support a name change because she is unsure if both sides of the issue can come together despite the name change, adding that she abstains from voting because she did not approve of the "nasty" comments made by some who opposed the name change. "I thank [Lee Elementary] parents, PTA members and others in the community who had the courage to finally ask trustees to do what should have been done decades ago," Trustee Edmund Gordon said. During the two-month process, from March 29 to April 15, the public can submit name suggestions to AISD via www.austinisd.org/naming, U.S.P.S. mail or hand-delivered mail. The AISD Office of Communications and Community Engagement and the Lee Elementary Campus Advisory Council will then work to get school name proposals narrowed down for board consideration in May. The process initiation comes after months of Lee Elementary and community members urging to rename the school because of Robert E. Lee's history as a Confederate veteran. Other community members who opposed the name change also came to board meetings. The board voted on a recommendation made by the Lee Elementary Campus Advisory Council, which met Jan. 26 and unanimously approved recommending a name change to the board.