Survey shows support for Virginia L. Murray Elementary School’s name

ALBEMARLE Co., Va. (WVIR) - There’s overwhelming support in Albemarle County to keep an elementary school’s name.

A community survey from January 12 to February 2, 2021, says just over 92% of the 458 area residents surveyed support keeping the name of Virginia L. Murray Elementary School.

Virginia Lee Murray was the first Black supervisor of elementary education in the county. The elementary school originally only served Black students before becoming desegregated in 1965.

The school’s Community Advisory Committee will host a public meeting on February 10 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the findings of the survey. Instructions to register for the virtual event is here.

There is also a ballot box in front of the school for students to weigh in.

The survey comes as part of a 2018 policy to review all schools named after individuals.

As part of the survey, respondents were asked “when reviewing a school’s current name or proposing a new name, what naming categories are important to consider?” The most common answer was ‘values’ (46.5%) followed by ‘places’ (31%) and ‘themes’ (17.25%)

The survey also shows that 57.6% of respondents know about the school’s history and Virginia Murray, while 41.3% did not.

Among the 33 respondents who wanted to change the name, a popular suggestion was Ivy Elementary because it does not involve changing to another individual’s name.

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