Liberty Magnet High School

Liberty Magnet High School (also known as LMHS, Liberty High and formerly Lee High School) is a public magnet school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, founded in the 1950s but was closed in 2009. The school was subsequently reopened in 2011 as a magnet school in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. Liberty Magnet has a student body of approximately 1,100 students. Liberty Magnet High School is classified as an "A" school, receiving a 106.7 SPS in 2017.^[2] Liberty requires students to pass enrollment standards and exceed graduation standards.

Liberty Magnet High School
Front of "A" Building of Liberty Magnet High School
Address
1105 Lee Drive Baton Rouge , East Baton Rouge Parish , Louisiana 70808 United States
Information
Former name	Robert E. Lee High School, Lee Magnet High School
School type	Public, Magnet
Motto	"A school like no other"
Sister school	Baton Rouge Magnet High School
Superintendent	Sito Narcisse
Principal	Brandon Levatino
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1,100
Classes offered	Honors, Dual Enrollment, Advanced Placement
Campus size	190,000 sq. ft.
Houses	1,200 students
Color(s)	Red, White & Blue
Mascot	Patriot
Nickname	Patriots
Website	www.libertymagnet.com

The front office of the biomedical academy, during transition to the new campus.^[1]

The school was housed at the Valley Park School while a new campus was under construction. In August 2016, ”Lee Magnet High School” opened the doors of its $49 million campus for the 2016–2017 school year. This new campus brought the institution back to its native location at 1105 Lee Drive.^[3] A marker from the original campus can be seen immediately south of the south exit of the school parallel to Lee drive imprinted "LHS".

Education

Liberty Magnet High School focuses on preparing students for a competitive collegiate education, with 99% of its graduates going on to attend college.^[4] They work with Louisiana State University for education in dual-enrollment classes.^[5] In the 2017–18 school year, Liberty Magnet High School had 17 AP Scholars.^[6] Liberty Magnet High School is also a partner with the National Math and Science Initiative.^[5]

Liberty Magnet High School also has a strong focus on computer science, with 383 students currently enrolled in computational classes.^[4] It is also noteworthy that all students enrolled in Liberty Magnet High School receive laptops in which they use to receive & turn in work using Google Classroom, collaborate with other students, take notes with, etc.^[7]

Academies

 

The inside of the biomedical academy's WOW space.

Based around individual "academies", students enroll in classes which are separated by academies. Liberty High has five buildings (a gymnasium/ cafeteria, three academies, and a black box theater), three of which house separate academies: Digital Arts, Biomedical and STEM.^[4]

Academic competitions

• Liberty Magnet High School has competed in the CyberPatriot semifinals.^[8]
• Liberty Magnet High School has been awarded first place at a Mu Alpha Theta convention.^[9]
• Liberty Magnet High School has been awarded first place in Louisiana Tech University's "CyberDiscovery Cryptography Treasure Hunt"^[10]
• They have also entered and placed in competitions such as VEX Robotics Competitions, the Congressional App Challenge, Louisiana State University's regional science fair, and more.^[11]

Athletics

Liberty Magnet High Patriots are a member of LHSAA Class 5A athletics. Liberty was moved into the LHSAA's highest classification for the 2022-23 school year, the first time since 1994-95 the school was in the highest class.^[12][13]

• Fall sports
  • Volleyball
  • Cross Country
  • Swimming
  • Football
• Winter sports
  • Boys Basketball
  • Girls Basketball
  • Boys Soccer
  • Girls Soccer
• Spring sports
  • Outdoor Track & Field
  • Tennis
  • Bowling
  • Golf
  • Baseball

Extracurricular activities

The following is a list of some of the clubs offered at Liberty Magnet High School:^[14]

• ACT Prep Club
• African American Heritage
• Anime
• Art Studio
• Astronomy Club
• Basketball Club
• Beta
• Chess
• Computer Science Honors Society
• DiversLEE
• Explorers Club
• F.B.L.A.
• Flo-Motion Juniors
• French
• Geocaching
• GSA
• iCare Club
• International Culture
• JROTC Command and Staff
• JROTC Physical Fitness Club
• JROTC Team Meeting
• Junior Classical League
• Key Club
• Korean Club
• Ladies of L.H.S.
• Lee High Investors
• Library Book & Storytelling Club
• Literary Magazine
• National French Honor Society
• National Honor Society
• National Society of Black Engineers
• Poetic – Lee Spoken Word Team
• Politics and Government
• Power (Weight Lifting)
• Professional eSports Club
• Quiz Bowl
• Robotics Club
• School Spirit Club
• Science Olympians
• Sign Language
• So You Think You Can Rap!
• STEM
• Student Democrats
• Thespian Society
• Thinking Philosophical
• Together We Unite
• UkuleLEE Club
• Yoga Society
• Young Filmmakers
• Youth and Government

Notable alumni

Lee High School

• Eugene Daniel, NFL player
• Leonard Smith, NFL player
• Reggie Torbor, NFL player

Controversies

On October 15, 2020, Rob Howle, the principal of Liberty Magnet High School at the time, was put on leave after criticizing the high school football players that kneeled during the pledge of allegiance via text message.^[15] Howle had replaced Nanette McCann (who had been the principal of both Liberty Magnet High School and Baton Rouge Magnet High School) just two years earlier in 2018.^[16]

Fight Club

In December 2019, twenty-four students were suspended after a video of what was labeled an unofficial "fight club" was leaked on social media.^[17] Students reportedly fought in the school locker-room while wearing boxing gloves brought by another student. It is unclear how long this had been going on prior to the disciplinary action taken in December but student Thomas London Jr. stated, "[it started] back in late August, September" when London and their "friends were sitting around talking and someone said they had [boxing] gloves."^[18] Students stated that athletic coaches knew about the fights but did nothing about it. It is unclear if internal action was taken towards these coaches.

Name Change

Liberty Magnet High School has been targeted for name changes multiple times throughout its new life. The East Baton Rouge Parish school system held multiple public meetings to discuss new names for the school. The school board in the end decided not to rename the school.^[1] When the school became a magnet school it was renamed from "Robert E. Lee High School" to "Lee Magnet High School They had felt that Sidney Lanier, a poet, was inappropriately grouped in with Jefferson Davis and Robert. E. Lee. Marlin McMillians, the president of the association, has explained that the school was named for Lanier's time as a poet, not ties to the Confederacy.

June 2020 meeting

 

A screenshot of board member Connie Bernard shopping during the meeting

In June 2020, the name of the school became the center of controversy as many residents questioned the purpose of memorializing the legacy of Lee. Many, including the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC), announced their support of the name change, with Adam Knapp, CEO of BRAC, saying, "Our leadership felt it was time to make a change in the name of that school."^[19]

On June 18, 2020, the East Baton Rouge School Board held a meeting about the school's name. Connie Bernard, a board member who has been serving since 2010, defended the school's name, telling community members to “learn a little bit more about” Lee saying that "General Lee inherited a large plantation, and he was tasked with the job of doing something with those people who lived in bondage to that plantation – the slaves – and he freed them."^[20][21] Community leader Gary Chambers Jr. photographed Bernard on her laptop shopping during the meeting, posting it on his Facebook before addressing the board.^[22] The three minute video of Chambers criticizing Bernard went viral on social media, with LeBron James, Shannon Sharpe, and Ava DuVernay retweeting the video.^{[23][24][25][26][27]} After the speech, Chambers uploaded a 2-minute video on Instagram explaining his perspective, calling for Bernard to resign, and containing a 20-second video of Bernard on her laptop.^[28]

Bernard has been called to resign by three of the EBR school board members,^[29][30] including by vice president Tramelle Howard,^[31] and has since apologized about the incident, writing "My comments last week about the naming of Lee High School were insensitive, have caused pain for others, and have led people to believe I am an enemy of people of color, and I am deeply sorry." She had also told that what was on her laptop was a pop-up ad that failed to close and that she "was actually taking notes, paying attention, reading online comments.”^{[20][21][32][33][34]} In response to a news conference calling her to resign, Bernard has stated that she would not resign and that she "will continue to serve all students as elected by my district three times." The members of the school board said that they would launch a campaign to remove Connie Bernard if she did not resign.^[35] Richard Lipsey^[36] and board president Mike Gaudet have also called for Bernard's resignation. Woody Jenkins, the chairman of the executive committee for the Republican Party in East Baton Rouge, called Gaudet to resign over his remarks.^[37] After a request, the history from the school board-issued laptop used by Bernard was searched, showing that it had been used to visit a website called "thredUP."^[38][39][40]

On June 18, 2020, the East Baton Rouge School Board unanimously voted to establish a renaming committee and to hear recommendations for the new name.^[41][42][43]

The renaming committee narrowed three names on July 13: Louisiana Magnet High School, Liberty Magnet High School, and P.B.S. Pinchback Magnet High School.^{[44][45][46][47]}

On July 16, the renaming committee voted to rename the school to "Liberty High School."^[48][49][50] On August 3, crews removed the "Lee Magnet" signage from the school.^[51][52]

References

1. www.eightyfivedesign.com, Eighty Five Design -. "Liberty Magnet High School- Baton Rouge, Louisiana". leemagnet.com. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
2. "Performance Scores".
3. "New Lee High facility set for March completion". Baton Rouge Business Report. 2016-01-05. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
4. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2018-02-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. LUSSIER, CHARLES (28 July 2017). "Baton Rouge High leads Louisiana in growth in number of AP test-takers, high scores". The Advocate. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
6. . Archived from the original on 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
7. "EBR Student Technology". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2019-11-17.^{[permanent dead link]}
8. "CyberPatriot CCS Scoreboard". scoreboard.uscyberpatriot.org. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
9. Lee High School - BR [@LeeMagnetHigh] (January 17, 2017). "Mu Alpha Theta Calculus BC Team took 1st place @ BRMHS Tournament #LeeMagnet #ASchoolLikeNoOther #STEMed https://t.co/8HOq4u0E7x" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
10. Lee High School - BR [@LeeMagnetHigh] (June 2, 2017). "LMHS takes 1st place on the Cryptography Treasure Hunt @LATech CyberDiscovery Camp #LeeMagnet #cyberdiscovery2017 #ASchoolLikeNoOther https://t.co/ti4xRxWbc1" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
11. "@LeeMagnetHigh" on Twitter
12. . Archived from the original on 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
13. . Archived from the original on 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
14. "CLUB INFO 11.07.19". Google Docs. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
15. LUSSIER, CHARLES (27 October 2020). "Liberty High principal out; he criticized football players who didn't stand for national anthem". The Advocate. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
16. LUSSIER, CHARLES (25 June 2018). "Meet the 14 new principals set to take the helm of Baton Rouge public schools". The Advocate. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
17. "After boxing matches in Lee High bathrooms, 24 students recommended for suspensions". 4 December 2019.
18. "Students now facing less severe punishment after fight club videos appear on the news".
19. "BRAC announces support of petition to rename Lee High School". WBRZ-TV. June 17, 2020.
20. Chambers, Brianna (June 21, 2020). "Elected official caught and called out for online shopping during school board meeting". KIRO-TV.
21. Warnock, Caroline (June 20, 2020). "Connie Bernard Under Fire at East Baton Rouge Parish School Board Meeting". Heavy.com.
22. Chambers Jr., Gary (June 18, 2020). "Baton Rouge School Board Member Connie Bernard is shopping while we are discussing changing the name of Lee High. I said she needed to resign 2 years ago. I said it a week and a half ago. I'm about to tell her to her face at this meeting". Facebook.
23. Vincent, Mykal (June 22, 2020). "La. activist Gary Chambers blasts Connie Bernard in viral speech, leads call to remove Confederate symbols in state". WAFB.
24. Levenson, Eric; Jackson, Amanda (June 21, 2020). "Baton Rouge activist rips school board member for defending Robert E. Lee". CNN.
25. Reese, Alexis (June 21, 2020). "Baton Rouge Resident Blasts School Board Member For Shopping Online During His Speech About Confederate Monument". BET.
26. Spencer, Christian (June 20, 2020). "Baton Rouge activist blasts white school board member: 'You don't give a damn!'". The Grio.
27. Lussier, Charles (June 20, 2020). "Speech blasting Connie Bernard at Baton Rouge school board meeting goes viral; LeBron, TMZ share it". The Advocate.
28. Chambers Jr., Gary (June 20, 2020). "We can't stop until Connie Resigns. #GoHomeConnie". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
29. Lussier, Charles (June 22, 2020). "Connie Bernard called on to resign by 3 East Baton Rouge School Board members". The Advocate.
30. Forster, Kevin (June 20, 2020). "Connie Bernard faces renewed calls for resignation from colleagues on EBR school board, community over Robert E. Lee controversy". WAFB.
31. Gremillion, Nick (June 22, 2020). "VP of EBR school board calls for Connie Bernard to resign". WAFB.
32. Lussier, Charles (June 19, 2020). "Baton Rouge school board member 'deeply sorry' after comments defending General Robert E. Lee". The Advocate.
33. "Who is Connie Bernard: 5 facts about Baton Rouge school board member in viral video". The Advocate. June 21, 2020.
34. Thomas, Zandria (June 20, 2020). "EBR School Board member Connie Bernard apologizes for comments after being told she should resign". WBRZ-TV.
35. "In swift response, Connie Bernard says she won't resign; school board members threaten recall petition". WBRZ-TV. June 22, 2020.
36. "Richard Lipsey calls for Connie Bernard's resignation". Business Report. July 15, 2020.
37. Lussier, Charles (July 3, 2020). "Woody Jenkins blasts Baton Rouge school board president for urging Connie Bernard to resign". The Advocate.
38. Lussier, Charles (June 29, 2020). "Was Connie Bernard shopping during school board meeting? Records show her web browsing activity". The Advocate.
39. Foster, Kevin; Hunter, Scottie (June 29, 2020). "THE INVESTIGATORS: Despite denial, records show extensive online shopping by Connie Bernard during crucial board meeting". WAFB.
40. "Despite denial, records show extensive online shopping by Connie Bernard during crucial board meeting". KLFY-TV. June 29, 2020.
41. Walker, Kennedi (June 19, 2020). "EBR school board votes to rename Lee High School". BRProud.
42. Vincent, Mykal; Foster, Kevin (June 18, 2020). "School board favors hearing new names for Lee High School". WAFB.
43. "EBR School Board votes to establish renaming committee for Lee High School". WBRZ-TV. June 18, 2020.
44. Duhé, Lester (July 13, 2020). "Committee decides on final 3 options to rename Lee High School". WAFB.
45. Poe, Carmen (July 16, 2020). "School board to vote Thursday on renaming Lee High School". WAFB.
46. Mitchell, David (July 13, 2020). "Lee High renaming committee suggests these 3 finalists; school board to make final call". The Advocate.
47. "Lee High School renaming committee selects final 3 potential new names; Awaiting superintendent's pick". WBRZ-TV. July 13, 2020.
48. "Lee High School renamed 'Liberty High School,' EBR Parish School Board votes". WBRZ-TV. July 16, 2020.
49. Gremillion, Lester; Duhé, Nick (17 July 2020). "School board votes for Baton Rouge's Lee High School to be renamed Liberty High School". WAFB.
50. Rddad, Youssef (July 16, 2020). "Lee High School to become Liberty High School after Baton Rouge School Board vote". The Advocate.
51. Vincent, Mykal (3 August 2020). "Crews remove Lee High signage from school". WAFB.
52. "'Lee High' letters removed from newly-named Liberty High School in Baton Rouge". WBRZ-TV. August 3, 2020.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liberty Magnet High School.

• Liberty Magnet High School Website
• Liberty Magnet High School on Twitter
• WAFB about Lee Magnet High School^{[permanent dead link]}

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