YORK COUNTY — The York County School Board received an update on research conducted by school division officials on the history behind the name of Magruder Elementary Monday night.
The board heard from community members who have been researching the school that it was named for Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder, who played a large part in defending York County against the Union Army’s Peninsula Campaign.
The short presentation, by James Carroll and Aaron Butler, was researched using a York County Schools book, “Footprints,” published in 1983 and archived documents at the Swem Library at William & Mary.
“When we reviewed that document that chronicled public education here through 1983, they mention Magruder, but they do not give the information on where the name came from. That was not included,” Butler said.
Information from Mary Lassiter, a local historian, helped verify additional documentation.
Some in the community have argued that the school is named for the community of Magruder, which was settled by African Americans after the Civil War.
According to Butler and Carroll, “indications are that the school was named for Fort Magruder or the village of Magruder that was displaced by Camp Peary. The fort and the area were most likely named for the Confederate general, therefore the school is indirectly named after John B. Magruder.”
No public comment was taken during the work session. The public will have the opportunity to speak about the name change at the next meeting, scheduled for May 19.
Zoran Pajevic, the representative for District 2, questioned the presenters on what the community has been saying about the research. Carroll responded, “We have not heard anything other than the public comments that you’ve heard, we don’t have the sense of the community as a whole.”
Board Chair Kim Goodwin suggested conducting a survey of the community about the possible name change.
“When you change school names, there are costs involved, not that cost is of the highest priority, but that does affect your whole community, not just a specific community, because everybody pays taxes that go to support the schools,” Goodwin noted.
“I would like to see a survey done of the teachers, the families and my district,” Mark Shafer, the representative of the Magruder district, added.
Lynda Fairman, District 5 representative, raised questions about current York County Schools policy regarding the naming of school buildings. According to policy FFA, no school shall be named after a person, living or deceased.
Fairman presented her own research to the board, citing that schools in her zone — Tabb — were named for Mary Octavia Smith Tabb, who served as postmaster in the area from 1893 to 1910.
“I think this is a similar situation that the schools are named after the area but the area was named after recognizing an individual. My issue with this is that we’re not just looking at one school possibly. I am not for this because it would be renaming Tabb Elementary, Tabb Middle, and Tabb High School, if we interpret that Magruder was not after the Magruder area, it was after the Magruder individual himself who was the general,” Fairman said. “What you do to one, people across the board in interpreting the policy, you would have to end up changing Tabb Elementary, Tabb Middle, and Tabb High for that equitable use of that particular policy.”
The board ultimately decided it would take comments from the public at the next board meeting May 19. Division leadership is also looking into establishing a survey that could be made available to the community in the next few weeks, pending input from the school board.
To watch the meeting in full, visit the YCSD YouTube page.