An interview with Duval County School Superintendent Nikolai Vitti which aired on WJCT Monday is in the news today because of Vitti's comment about the name of Nathan B. Forrest High school.
Nathan Forrest was a Confederate general and a grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. An article today in the Florida Times-Union outlines the history of the controversy.
In the interview with State Impact reporter Sammy Mack, Vitti says he was "alarmed" by the name of the school when he first visited Forrest High while working at the Florida Department of Education.
"I know that previously the school board dealt with that issue," Vitti said. "Ultimately that’s the school board’s decision. But I would be in support of the school’s name being changed as long as it came organically from the community.”
We've posted the entire interview below, and you can find more information on the State Impact website. This interview is part of StateImpact Florida, a collaboration between NPR, WUSF, WLRN and WJCT examining the effect of state policy on people's lives.
