Legacy of Educational Excellence High School

Legacy of Educational Excellence High School
Address
Legacy of Educational Excellence High School
Legacy of Educational Excellence High School
1400 Jackson-Keller Road
San Antonio, Texas 78213
United States
Coordinates 29°30′25″N 98°30′57″W / 29.506951°N 98.515917°W / 29.506951; -98.515917Coordinates: 29°30′25″N 98°30′57″W / 29.506951°N 98.515917°W / 29.506951; -98.515917
Information
School type Public, High School
School district North East ISD
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 3208[1] (2017)
Campus Urban
Color(s) Red and Gray          
Athletics conference UIL Class AAAAAA
Nickname Volunteers
Feeder schools Nimitz Middle School
Jackson Middle School
Athletic conferences Football Program UIL District 27-6A
Website www.neisd.net/lee/

Legacy of Educational Excellence (L.E.E.) High School, formerly Robert E. Lee High School, is a high school in San Antonio, Texas. A part of the North East Independent School District (NEISD), it serves portions of San Antonio,[2] all of the city of City of Castle Hills,[3] and a portion of Balcones Heights.[4]

Established in 1958, and formerly named after general Robert E. Lee, Lee is host to three magnet schools:

History

The school opened in 1958.[5]

Robert E. Lee and Confederate naming

In 1991 the school retired the usage of uniforms for athletes and band members which had Confederate battle flags.[6] The band used to perform a rendition of the song "Dixie" during athletic competitions but NEISD removed this as well; these moves were done to lessen the stigma against the school.[7] For a period the school continued allowing students to display the Confederate battle flag on their clothing and personal items.[6]

The NEISD school board has twice voted on whether to rename the school to address concerns about the safety and focus of students in the context of national debate around memorializing the Confederacy. The board considered whether to rename the school in 2015, after the Charleston church shooting occurred.[8] Lee student Kayla Wilson created an online petition asking for a rename, and students asked the board of NEISD to consider renaming Lee.[6] Mayor of San Antonio Julián Castro also supported renaming.[9] The vote failed on a 5-2 basis.[6]

In August 2017, after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a 19-year-old San Antonio resident, Gianno Gomez, created an online petition to have the school renamed. Another individual created a petition asking for the name to be kept.[6] That month the board voted in favor of retiring the Robert E. Lee name; it did not immediately determine what the new name of the school would be.[10][11]

The board wished to name the school after an idea instead of a person and asked for suggestions. It received 2,400 proposals, and the district rejected 1,900 of them due to not matching the district's parameters and/or due to obscenities.[7] The San Antonio Express-News characterized several of the proposals as having "offensive and inappropriate references."[12] In October 2017 the NEISD board of Education voted to change the name of the school to Legacy of Educational Excellence (L.E.E.) High School on a 5 to 2 vote.[7] The rename is to be effective in fall 2018.[13] Initially the "volunteer" remained as the school's mascot,[7] but in April 2018 the district announced that the new mascot was a dog wearing a military service vest after students voted in favor of that mascot.[14]

Magnet programs

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ UIL 2018-2020 Reclassification and Realignment
  2. ↑ "Lee High School" Map. North East Independent School District. Retrieved on March 24, 2010. Archived August 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ "City of Castle Hills Map." City of Castle Hills. Retrieved on March 24, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Zoning Map." City of Balcones Heights. Retrieved on March 24, 2010.
  5. ↑
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Caruba, Lauren (2017-08-18). "Fight to change the name of Robert E. Lee High School resumes". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Caruba, Lauren (2017-10-10). "Lee High School changes name to LEE High School to avoid link with Confederate leader". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  8. ↑ Shadrock, Chris (2015-12-06). "NEISD votes against renaming Lee High School". KSAT-TV. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  9. ↑ "Julián Castro calls on San Antonio's Robert E. Lee High School to change name". San Antonio Express-News. 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  10. ↑ Zielnski, Alex (August 30, 2017). "School Board Votes to Rename Robert E. Lee High School". San Antonio Current. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  11. ↑ Caruba, Lauren (2017-08-30). "School Board Votes to Rename Robert E. Lee High School". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2017-09-02.
  12. ↑ "Suggestions NEISD actually received to rename Robert E. Lee High School". San Antonio Express-News. 2017-10-02. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  13. ↑ Mendoza, Madalyn (2017-09-19). "Robert E. Lee H.S. alumni create Rebel-inspired Fiesta medal as district drops controversial name". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  14. ↑ "Lee High School students decide on new mascot image". KENS. 2018-04-03. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  15. ↑ Bruce Collie Player Profile from NFL.com
  16. ↑ Tommy Kramer Player Profile from NFL.com
  17. ↑ Travis Lewis Player Profile from NFL.com
  18. ↑ http://www.kens5.com
  19. ↑ Richard Osborne Player Profile from NFL.com
  20. ↑ http://mlb.mlb.com/hou/team/exec_bios/postolos_george.html
  21. ↑ Pat Rockett Stats
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