The Mills E. Godwin name that has been affixed to Dale City’s first middle school in 1970 is gone for good.
Democrats on the Prince William County School Board upheld a decision to rename the school to Dr. Geogre C. Hamton Middle School, which strips the name of two-time Virginia Godwin Mills Godwin from the school. The move also kept Kyle R. Wilson’s name on a soon-to-open elementary school near the intersection of Minnieville and Spriggs roads in Woodbridge.
Both names — Hampton and Wilson — were considered for the new elementary school. A comprise vote last month named the nearly $30 million school after Wilson, the county’s first firefighter to die in the line of duty. The nearly 40-year-old Godwin Middle School will be renamed after Hampton, a local philanthropist.
Wilson, who died at age 24, was white. Hampton, 87, who was present at Wednesday night’s School Board meeting, is black.
Many who spoke in favor of keeping Hampton’s name on the school also said the School Board moved to name a “dilapidated” school after Hampton, and name a shiny new facility after Wilson.
“Black children in Virginia received old run down school, old school buses while white children received new materials,” one speaker before the School Board recalled about his time growing up.
Multiple School Board members talked about the decision to uphold the naming decision fell on racial lines.
“This discussion started as a discussion about naming a school after two deserving men. And the discussion changed. And this is a discussion that has been brewing in Prince William County for a long time, said Woodbridge District School Board member Loree Williams. “When you grow up and don’t have a role model that looks like you, that impacts people… when you have someone who looks like you, similar to you, and they do great things, [it shows] you can too… In a school that has a high population of minority students, black, Asian, Indian, whatever, they’re not white, and now is a good time to give them someone to look up to.”
The decision to rename Godwin could cost more than $500,000. Many who work at Godwin suggested naming one of at least three planned new schools in Prince William after Hampton, and spending the money instead on students.
“We need iPads; we need technology to help students learn,” one Godwin teacher said. “… I’ve never been so diss pointed, these students need an education, stop filling this room full of politics and race baiting and I want all of you to remeber why we are here.”
Occoquan District School Board member showed a photo of two black children from the 1960s, holding signs that stated they were denided an education.
“I hear all these people saying we’re playing the race card as if we could select a card to play. We couldn’t select a card, we played the card were dealt. And there was only one card, and it was poverty,” said Jessie. “Brown vs. Board of Education was a nonstory in our neighborhood. I still walked while the white kids rode the bus. I still went to a school with no lunch room, so the lower elementary kids went home a 2 o’clock because they knew they needed to eat. We didn’t have a library until we reached high school.”
“Race does need to be talked about in our society, and if it takes a Yankee to come down to Virginia to do it, a Yankee is going to do it,” said Wilk, who proposed the compromise vote to rename Godwin.
The name change is expected to be in place prior to the start of the upcoming school year in September.
