Trending

Elementary school's name changes from honoring Confederate general to honoring Barack Obama

RICHMOND, Va. — Elementary school students will be attending a new school but in the same building when they return to class in the fall.

The Richmond School Board voted 6-1 Monday to rename J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School to Barack Obama Elementary School. It was the city's only school named in honor of the Confederacy, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

The lone holdout, Kenya Gibson, had asked for a delay of the vote because there were no local names being considered in the school’s renaming. Gibson represents the 3rd District where Barack Obama Elementary School is located.

>> Read more trending news

This isn't the first school named for the country's first African-American president. A new elementary school in New Haven, Connecticut will be named after Obama. Another school in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, is also named for the 44th president, the Times-Dispatch reported.

A school in Mississippi changed its name from Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, to Obama.

The Richmond School Board said it will cost the district $26,000 to make the change, including new signage, new mats with the name written on them, new stationery, business cards and other office supplies and T-shirts for faculty, staff and students, the Times-Dispatch reported.