Atlanta’s Henry W. Grady High School doesn’t have a new name — yet.
The school board on Monday voted 8-1 to delay renaming the school to give Grady students time to vote on one of three alternatives: Ida B. Wells, Midtown or Piedmont.
The board will reconsider the issue at a Dec. 7 meeting after students weigh in via a confidential, ranked-choice vote that allows them to select their first, second and third favorite picks.
Board member Leslie Grant, who led a committee tasked with studying the issue, has championed the Wells' name as did three other committee members.
But in a surprise move Monday — and after a week of intense debate and dueling petitions circulated among students, parents and others — Grant asked her fellow board members to postpone the decision.
“Since the recommendation has been made, we’ve heard from many who are pleased with the choice and many who have expressed concerns about the process," Grant said. “And while … I do believe the process was a fair one, I believe what we must do is that we have to ensure that our student voice is ultimately heard and elevated.”
Although a majority of the naming committee favored the Wells' name, two supported Midtown and one chose Piedmont.
The school located across from Piedmont Park in Midtown has been called Henry W. Grady High School since 1947, when two other Atlanta high schools merged.
Atlanta school board Chairman Jason Esteves formed a committee in March to review the issue after Grady students submitted a petition calling for their school to be renamed. The students said Grady, a managing editor of The Atlanta Constitution, held a “staunchly racist ideology” that helped cement white supremacy in the South. Grady died in 1889.
Before recommending the Wells' name last month, the committee sent out an electronic survey to determine interest in five potential names.
Nearly two thirds of the roughly 1,600 survey respondents favored a location-based name, either Midtown or Piedmont. The Wells' name garnered 21.5% of the survey tally, coming in second behind Midtown with 43%.
When the divided committee pushed forward with the Wells' name, it prompted an outcry. Critics called on the school board to reject the group’s recommendation because it wasn’t the most popular survey choice.
Some also said that Wells has no direct connection to Atlanta and contend that choosing a name based on geography would be less controversial than one that honors a person.
“We feel the process was flawed,” said Meredith Bass, a parent of a Grady sophomore told the board. “The students deserve to have their voices heard.”
Grady senior Nicolas Kamel said the school community should decide the name.
“The problem with quickly choosing Wells is that it’s reactionary," he said. “Wells will inevitably be defined as a remedy to the harm of Grady, which is counterproductive."
That sharp contrast between the two historical figures is exactly why Grant and others have said they want to name the school after Wells. The Mississippi-born Black journalist and civil rights activist exposed lynching and Jim Crow-era injustices in her work. She died in 1931.
“She was an abolitionist, feminist, and journalist. I don’t think this will be a name that will ever become controversial in the future," said Forest Dynes, a Grady High senior. "After having a school named after a blatant white supremacist, I think it would speak volumes to have a Black woman for our students to be able to look up to.”
By Monday’s board meeting, nearly 2,000 people had signed an online petition urging a “no” vote on the Wells' name. An opposing online petition, launched several days after its competitor, had about 130 signatures in support of the Wells' name.
Board member Nancy Meister cast the lone vote opposing Grant’s motion to delay the decision and poll students. Meister said she had concerns about the pressure it would place on students and the school.
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