Tonight’s community meeting at Nathan B. Forrest High School signals the information-gathering phase on the question of whether or not to change the name of Nathan B Forrest High School is nearing an end.
School Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti, along with members of the Duval County School Board, will get the opportunity tonight to hear what the public has to say about the proposed name change.
The school is named for Nathaniel Bedford Forrest, a confederate general in the American civil war and one of the originators of the Ku Klux Klan.
The issue of the name change bubbled to the surface this summer when an online petition drive gathered more than 160,000 signatures in support of the idea. This fall, the school board established a timeline for gathering and analyzing stakeholder input.
According to School Board member Paula Wright, Dr. Vitti will formally weigh in on the name change issue next week, after which the matter will be decided. A board vote on whether to accept Vitti's recommendation is scheduled for Dec. 16.
Wright says people who want to submit an opinion in writing need to have them postmarked by Thursday, December 12th.
Tonight’s community meeting at Forrest High school starts at 6 p.m..
You can follow Cyd Hoskinson on Twitter @cydwjctnews.
