(Credit: Austin Independent School District)
Beginning this fall, John H. Reagan High School will be changed to Northeast Early College High School.
The Austin Independent School District approved the change Monday night in an 8-1 vote, with trustee Ann Teich the lone dissenting voice.
While the majority of the board supported the name change due to John Reagan’s ties to the Confederacy as the postmaster general, Teich was quick to point out that, for almost four decades, wealthy alumni have donated to the school to fund things like athletic equipment and more, and she says they will not be happy with this.
“It’s important to note that those alumni, most of them white, who have been supporting Reagan for the last 30-40 years will pull their support,” Teich said. “These alumni have also provided support to individual students, they’ve taken them into their homes, mentored them, chaparoned them. I’m hoping that the community demanding this change will take over that support.”
Teich said the vast majority of the Reagan community, as well as the donor alumni, wanted to keep the name as Reagan High School while simply dropping the “John H.” aspect.
Most of the public comment was in support of the change. Parents say they would like to see more focus from the district in educating students as to who John H. Reagan was and why the change was made.
AISD has now changed four of its campuses that were originally named after Confederate leaders.
