JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Six years after a gunman opened fire in a Black church in Charleston, sparking a national drive to remove symbols of the Confederacy, more than a dozen Florida schools are still named after Confederate leaders and men associated with mistreatment of Native Americans.

The schools — boasting names like Robert E. Lee High and J.E.B. Stuart Middle — are predominantly located in the Jacksonville area. On Tuesday, the Duval County School Board is set to vote on a proposal to rename several of them, which the local school superintendent is supportive of.

The outcome of the vote, however, is uncertain. This week, a coalition of progressive and civil rights leaders gathered to press board members to turn the page on what they said was a divisive past.

"Students should not be forced to attend a school whose namesake celebrates a revisionist Confederate history," said Lecia Brooks of the Southern Poverty Law Center. "There are many worthy Floridians whose names could be on your schools, however, J.E.B. Stuart is not one of them. Jeff Davis is not one of them." 

While state and local leaders have taken action to remove Confederate-related statues and monuments in recent years, renaming schools has proven to be a particularly vexing issue. Some community members are opposed to such moves because, they argue, the longstanding identities of schools — and their significance to students, faculty and alumni — are intertwined with their names.