Austin ISD has narrowed down its list of potential names for Robert E. Lee Elementary School to three names May 9.[/caption]The Austin ISD board of trustees heard the top 3 ideas to rename the Lee Elementary School during its meeting May 9.
The three names, as chosen by the Lee Elementary Campus Advisory Council, were Russell Lee, Bettie Mann and Wheeler’s Grove.
Advocates for each of the three names presented their case in front of the board.
The advocate for Russell Lee said Lee was a local photographer who documented the poor and people of all races and ethnicities. Lee was also the first professor of photography at the University of Texas at Austin.
Bettie Mann was the first African-American teacher at Lee Elementary, according to the presentation. She also sent all three of her sons to the school, who were also the first African-American students at Lee Elementary.
Wheeler’s Grove is the first place in Austin where Juneteenth celebrations were held, but now it is a park named Eastwoods Park, trustees heard during the meeting.
Lee Elementary CAC co-chair Ryan Bates said the Russell Lee name was ranked “dramatically first.” Bettie Mann was ranked second and Wheeler’s Grove was ranked third. When asked by Trustee Paul Saldaña how the CAC ranked the names, Bates said the CAC did not keep a scoring matrix, and the rankings were a verbal process.
The CAC chose the three finalists from more than 500 submissions, ranging from “the good, the bad and the ugly,” Bates said.
Trustees gave their individual opinions about the names they preferred. The majority agreed with Russell Lee, though some including Trustee Edmund Gordon favored Wheeler’s Grove, citing the history of the area and ongoing gentrification in Austin.
Trustees Julie Cowan and Amber Elenz discussed using the names of finalists for parts of the school if they are not chosen.
“Everybody thinks all three are great options, so we don’t want to lose any of them,” Elenz said.
The board may vote on a new name for the school during its regular meeting on May 23.
