HARRISONBURG — The trial lawsuit over the names of two Shenandoah County schools for Confederate generals started Thursday.

The Virginia State Conference of the NAACP and five current and former Shenandoah County Public Schools students has sued the School Board over members’ decision to restore the names of two schools to Confederate generals. The plaintiffs claim that the board’s action violates their civil rights by making them feel unwelcome given that the generals fought to preserve states’ rights to allow slavery. Plaintiffs also argue that schools infringe on their right to an education by requiring that students wear uniforms with the Confederate names in order to participate in extracurricular sports.

U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski is presiding over the trial scheduled

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