Board Votes To Establish Committee To Recommend Whether To Change Name Of George Fox Middle School

Press release from Anne Arundel County Public Schools:

Posted on July 9, 2020 by AACPS Communications Office

The Board of Education has unanimously voted to request that Superintendent George Arlotto establish a committee of parents, students, community members, and staff to study the name of George Fox Middle School and make a recommendation to the Board as to whether the school should be renamed.

The vote at the Board’s July 8 meeting came after a discussion of comments attributed to Mr. Fox, who served as the first superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools from 1916 to 1946, during a court case regarding equal pay for African-American teachers that “the worst white teacher is better than the best black teacher.”

Board Member Julie Hummer said she did research on Mr. Fox after a community member brought the comments to her attention.

The motion passed by the Board does not remove George Fox’s name from the Pasadena middle school, but calls for the committee to examine the comments and any other pertinent details regarding Mr. Fox’s life and work and then recommend to the Board whether the name of the school should be changed. The committee’s report is due no later than March 2021.

Should the committee recommend a change and the Board concur, a separate school naming committee must be formed to select a name in accordance with Board of Education Policy EG/706, Naming of School Facilities.

George Fox Middle School opened in 1949. It houses approximately 880 students in grades 6 through 8.

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This press release was produced by Anne Arundel County Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.