TAMPA, Fla. — An elementary school named for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that burned down just after Hurricane Irma has a new name.
- RELATED: Hillsborough School Board to Consider New Names for Lee Elementary
- School destroyed by fire just after Hurricane Irma
- School board voted in October to rebuild school
During a special meeting of the Hillsborough County School Board on Thursday, members voted on a new name for Lee Elementary School. The school will now be named "Tampa Heights Elementary."
According to the school board, close to 100 suggestions for a new name for the school were submitted for consideration.
The process to rename Lee Elementary began more than a year ago, when the school board requested the change from the district. Just a few months later, on September 12, 2017, a fire broke out in the historic building, destroying the school.
In May 2018, board members met with parents to discuss the future of the building and new school names proposed by families. Those names included Lee Elementary with no first name, Tampa Heights Elementary, Harper Lee Elementary, and Amelia Elementary.
The school has only had two names in its 112-year history. Built by volunteers in 1906, the school was first named Michigan Avenue Grammar School and was renamed Robert E. Lee Elementary in 1943. It become the district's first magnet school in 1993.