LHS Name Change: Here We Go Again!!

Lee High School name coming down, again, but only for repairs

Published: Sunday, March 11, 2012, 7:00 AM

 By Crystal Bonvillian, The Huntsville Times 

The Lee High School name, pictured, will be removed Monday from the new school building for repairs to the stonework beneath. The words "Lee Campus" will go up in its place, and both the Lee and New Century Technology high school names will go elsewhere on the building. (The Huntsville Times)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The Lee High School name is once again coming off of the new school building, but this time it has nothing to do with a name change.

Workers are scheduled to remove the name for repair work to the building's facade on Monday, said Rena Anderson, the school district's director of community engagement.

Anderson explained that the stonework beneath the letters needs to be patched because of adjustments being made to include New Century Technology High's name to the building. The high school, currently housed at Columbia High, will move to the new Lee facility in August.

"It's like hanging a picture," Anderson said. "If you move a picture on a wall, you have to patch up where it originally was."

The district will keep the name off of the building until an order of additional letters comes in. Where the name currently is, the building will read "Lee Campus."

Lower on the facade, one side of the building will read "Lee High School" and the other side will have New Century's name.

"We're placing the order within the next couple of weeks and then it takes about six weeks for them to come in," Anderson said.

The removal of the school's name, along with talk of changing the school's name entirely, caused more than 200 Lee students to walk out of class Nov. 3 in protest. Superintendent Casey Wardynski, who initiated the talk of a name change, waded into the crowd and talked the students back inside after listening to their concerns.

Wardynski that night admitted committing a "gargantuan" mistake. By that time, he had also heard from city residents, Lee alumni and local and state officials who were against the change.

The superintendent then appointed a committee to determine if a new name would best reflect both schools or if the schools should remain separate. The committee included PTA representatives, parents, teachers, a student and an alumnus from each school, as well as a number of other community representatives.

The committee recommended in January that the schools retain their individual identities.