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An elementary school in Mississippi will be named for the first African-American President of the United States instead of for Jefferson Davis. Davis served as the President of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865.
Davis International Baccalaureate Elementary School in Jackson has an 96 percent African-American enrollment, according to CBS News. The move to change the name to Barack Obama is aimed to take place in 2018, and was proposed by the parents and students.
The proposal was approved by the majority of faculty and staff members.
PTA President Janelle Jefferson announced Tuesday that school stakeholders voted on Oct. 5 to approve the name change at a meeting with the district's board of trustees, according to Buzzfeed News.
"The school community wanted to rename the campus to reflect a person who fully represents ideals and public stances consistent with what we want our children to believe about themselves," said Jefferson.
"Jefferson Davis, although infamous in his own right, would probably not be too happy about a diverse school promoting the education of the very individuals he fought to be enslaved named after him," Jefferson continued.
The PTA President told the Associated Press that the students at the elementary school had expressed overwhelming support for President Obama.
She explained that the entire voting process took about three weeks, and involved the students in the school. People at the school offered suggestions for a new name. Students in classes, from kindergarten through fifth grade, took part in the research and were able to present what they found to a school assembly.
Fourth- and fifth-graders oversaw the election within the student body, teachers and staff casting paper ballots at school.
Parents were able to vote on campus or by absentee ballot, according to ABC News.
Jefferson said the PTA is planning "some very aggressive fundraising campaigns" to pay for new signs, stationery or other items needed for the name change. The school is right near the state Capitol building, and the majority of its current students were born during the eight years Obama was president, starting in 2009.