In Controversial Vote, Texas High School Reverses Name Change to Once Again Honor Confederate General

Midland school district reverses a 2020 decision, reigniting the debate over heritage and inclusivity

Midland Legacy High School will again be known as Midland Lee High School starting in 2026-2027. / Rudy Gutierrez

Midland Legacy High School is changing its name for the second time in five years.

It's reverting back to that of a defeated Confederate general.

The Midland Independent School District board of trustees voted 4-3 on Tuesday evening to rename Legacy High School back to Midland Lee High School. The decision reverses a 2020 vote that changed the school's name from Robert E. Lee High School.

Sports teams will again be identified as the Midland Lee Rebels beginning in the 2026-2027 season, when the name change is set to go into effect.

The Midland Lee Rebels will be taking the field again in 2026. / Rudy Gutierrez

The original name, honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who lost a war he fought, in part, to preserve slavery, was a point of contention for years. In the summer of 2020, following nationwide protests over racial injustice, a community effort gained traction to change the name.

The board ultimately voted 5-2 in October 2020 to change the name to Legacy High School, a decision that, according to Marfa Public Radio, cost the district an estimated $2 million for rebranding. The mascot was kept as the Rebels, but a new depiction as a Revolutionary War soldier was adopted to move away from the Confederate imagery.

The motion to revert the name back to Midland Lee was brought forward by a newly configured school board intent on honoring the late general, who inherited slaves from his mother and managed some 200 others from his father's estate - ordering and encouraging harsh abuse to those who attempted to flee, according to words of an enslaved man named Wesley Norris in an 1866 interview with the National Anti-Slavery Standard, per the African American Registry.

Midland ISD Vice President Josh Guinn, elected in 2024, was one of the biggest advocates, announcing his intention to propose the name change on July 4, 2025, citing in a Facebook post “patriotic legacy” as a reason for changing the name back.

Guinn and other supporters argued that changing the name back to the defeated general's was about honoring the school's heritage and its past. Opponents of the change have argued that the name Lee cannot be separated from its association with slavery and that the new name promotes a less inclusive environment.

Sep 8, 2021; Richmond, VA, USA; The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., is taken down more than 130 years after it was erected. / Jack Gruber-USA TODAY

During Tuesday evening's meeting, more than 50 people spoke for over two hours.

In a report by The Texas Tribune, one board member who voted to reinstate the name, Matt Friez, described the 2020 name change as "toxic political correctness."

Conversely, an education advocate and community member, Ebony Coleman, said the board should be focusing on students' academic outcomes, calling the name change a "distraction."

Sue Roseberry, a resident who moved to West Texas in 1981, told the Texas Tribune that she "cringed" when students flew the Confederate flag and played the song "Dixie" at school events before the 2020 change.

A former teacher in the district for 28 years, Barbara Hanley, called the effort a waste of money that "only serves to divide the community further."

In the end, the contention didn't matter. The board succeeded in its quest, and the school will again honor Lee's name.

The name change is set to take effect during the 2026-27 school year, and according to Superintendent Stephanie Howard and reports from NewsWest 9 and The Texas Tribune, could cost the district up to $62,000.

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