Donations still being accepted to support Justice High School name change

So far, $92,000 has been raised from private donors to offset the cost of implementing the name change for Justice High School.

When the Fairfax County School Board voted last October to change the name of Stuart High School to Justice High School, Fairfax County Public Schools set up an online portal to accept donations from the public.

The school board later directed the superintendent to contribute to the cost of implementing the name change from the flexibility reserve in the budget, which is essentially a “rainy day fund.” Private donations will replenish that fund.

Justice High School is hosting a rededication ceremony this evening to formally recognize the school’s new name.

The funds donated by the public include $17,790 from 55 people who attended a house party in January 2108 and $11,598 from 105 people who contributed during an online “day of giving” in June, reports Debbie Ratliff, a Justice parent who has been working with other community members on the fundraising effort. There is no set fundraising goal.

The donations are mostly from residents of Virginia, but there have been contributions from several other states. Nearly all donations were “undesignated,” which means the funds can be used for anything related to the new name implementation, such as athletics, performing arts, equipment, or signs.

Funding was not cut from any FCPS or school program to pay for the name change, Ratliff says. And no athletic or band booster organizations have had to pay for any new uniforms for this year or for the next several years.

The only exceptions are the crew and cheerleading teams. Crew is an independent athletic activity, not an official FCPS sport. Cheerleading is not supported by the athletic boosters and raises money for their needs on their own. FCPS, however provided the cheerleaders with a full set of uniforms anyway.

FCPS has estimated the total cost of implementing the name change for Justice is $428,000. According to Ratliff, that is roughly double the cost of name change efforts for several high schools in Texas and Florida.

The Justice High School Athletic Boosters are sponsoring a new fundraiser, the “Wolves Classic,” on Sept. 22 to showcase all fall sports, but this event is not part of the fundraising campaign to implement the name change. The boosters’ goal is to raise $100,000 to support athletic training and other needs.