SAN ANTONIO – An auction for pieces of Robert E. Lee High School memorabilia is causing concern for some people in the community, including former students.
A museum is being built on campus that will include artifacts, photos, replicas of class mosaics, a statue of Robert E. Lee and more, but it's the items that didn't make the cut that have some alumni concerned.
The concern being that many of the auction items appear to be items that have been donated or given as gifts by prior graduating classes and alumni.
The high school was re-named last fall to Legacy of Educational Excellence High School, known as LEE, after public outcry over its connection to the Confederate-era Civil War general.
The official name change will begin in the 2018-2019 school year.
"Over the past school year, the District has heard from many alumni who were interested in Robert E. Lee items that were going to be removed from the campus once the name change had taken place. These types of items are typically disposed of at other schools. However, because we received so much interest, the District choose to offer these mementos during on an online auction," a district spokeswoman said in a statement to KSAT.
The district posted several photos of items to be auctioned on the district’s Facebook page Monday, including chairs, clothes and yearbooks.
One of the posted photos, which has now been taken down, was of a plaque honoring a former deceased student.
"The memorial plaque was removed from the campus during construction a couple of years ago. It was placed at the warehouse for safe keeping because once construction is fully complete, it will be put back. As items were being organized for the online auction, a picture was inadvertently taken of the plaque and posted along with an advertisement of the auction. It was never slated for auction and was not going to be included with the other items," the spokeswoman said.
The auction will start Monday at 9 a.m. and run through July 30, ending in batches every half-hour from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Anyone interested in purchasing memorabilia can visit the auction page here. However, the link will not be live until the auction starts.
The district spokeswoman said items with specific students' names will not be included in the auction.
"All mementos cannot be displayed in the museum, so there are more than 1,000 items that will be up for auction," according to the spokeswoman.
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Posted by North East Independent School District - NEISD on Monday, July 9, 2018