In February, the Lawrence school board unanimously voted to rename South Middle School as Billy Mills Middle School.

This follows board meetings considering a name change to honor Native Americans. The discussion began with community member Carole Cadue-Blackwood, who sent a letter to the board urging the change in June. Blackwood argued the change was appropriate considering the land South Middle School is built upon was originally donated by Haskell Indian Nations University.

After listening to community speakers and considering several proposed options, the board voted to name the school in honor of Olympic gold medalist, Billy Mills. Mills is a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe as well as an alumni of Haskell University and the University of Kansas.

The name change will go into place on July 1. Board president Shannon Kimball said most visual changes, such as uniforms, will happen at previously-set replacement dates to reduce cost.

“Most kids really don’t like it, and I don’t know why,” sixth-grader Jack LaRue said. “I think the name change is good because of, you know, the land.”