December 16 Public Meeting Scheduled on Re-interment of 12th High School Graves

Prince William County Schools has announced that they are scheduling a public meeting on the re-interment of the remains of bodies and artifacts found in graves at the 12^th high school for Dec. 16.

“Members of the Prince William County School Board and administration will hear public comments on plans for re-interring artifacts and remains from graves discovered during clearing for the county’s 12^th high school, now set for completion in 2016,” wrote spokesperson Irene Cromer, Supervisor of Community Relations for Prince William County Schools.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m., December 16, 2013, at the Board Meeting Room of the Edward Kelly Leadership Center, 14715 Bristow Road in Manassas.

Cromer said the meeting has been scheduled as “Archaeologists and others have completed a study of the fragmentary remains from graves previously hidden beneath trees and brush that had grown for decades.”

Additionally, “insights and historical information will be presented so local residents can weigh in on appropriate ways to recognize and reinter the historic discoveries,” Cromer said.

The meeting has come as public interest in the graves has grown after indication that the graves may belong to ancestors of the Lynn family. Should the graves belong to their ancestors, the Lynn family has requested they be re-interned on their former property rather than at a contemporary cemetery as planned.

The announcement includes instructions on signing up to speak before the School Board and administration.

Those wishing to address the School Board may:

• Notify the Board Clerk in writing at P.O. Box 389, Manassas, VA 20108; by phone at 703.791.8709; or by email at pwcsclerk@pwcs.edu prior to noon on the day of the Board meeting to be placed on the list of speakers; or 
• Sign onto the list of speakers maintained at the entrance to the School Board meeting room at the beginning of the meeting, but prior to 6:55 p.m. on the evening of the meeting.

Please provide your name, address, phone number.  In keeping with Board policy, all registered speakers will receive three minutes to present their views, which will be considered in subsequent Board deliberations. 

Cromer states that, “Exhumation and relocation of the graves was necessitated by timing and budget for school construction, combined with the unique site attributes that restrict the flexibility of the project.”

Additionally the announcement includes a link to the school’s division’s timeline on the project, discover and exhumation of the grave sites along with “updated information and other details.”

 a timeline, updated information, and other details.