Lee Elementary naming committee has first meeting

The Lee Elementary School naming committee met for the first time on Wednesday.

The school was originally named after Confederate commander Robert E. Lee.

This past year, the school’s autonomous school board sent a formal letter to Columbia’s Board of Education requesting it consider changing the name because it didn’t feel like the name “supports the objectives of the school.”

A member told ABC 17 News no action was taken at Wednesday night’s meeting, but members had the opportunity to get to know one another.

The group will meet again in January to create a rubric for the name selection.

According to Wednesday night’s agenda, the committee will begin collecting name submissions from the community in February and March.

Those names will be reviewed in April and a final recommendation is expected to be submitted to the Board of Education by May 14.