Columbus; Obama.
One historic figure might see his name on a school in Beaver Hills and a bridge in West River, while another might get his scrubbed off a building in Fair Haven.
That possibility emerged as the Board of Education’s School Facilities Naming Committee convened its first meeting in recent memory on Monday afternoon to receive proposals for three name changes.
During the hourlong discussion about how to vet those names, the committee members suggested that another school might need a change, too.
Christopher Peak Photo
Commitee members Krystal Augustine, Jamell Cotto, Darnell Goldson, Tamiko Jackson-McArthur and Keisha Redd-Hannans discuss school names.
The committee kicked back into gear after Reggie Mayo gave the go-ahead to name a pedestrian footbridge at Barnard Environmental Studies Magnet School after former President Barack Obama, without following the rules in the board’s bylaws.
“He said, ‘We screwed up and didn’t follow the process,” said Darnell Goldson, the board’s president. Here’s how it’s supposed to work: “We form a committee, [the applicants] make presentations, the committee makes recommendations, and the full board approves,” he said.
Because the bridge’s naming wasn’t put to a vote, it’s not official yet. That proposal, along with a petitions to rename Strong School after Obama and dedicate Barnard’s library to Cheryl Coppa, its librarian for two decades who retired early for health reasons last year, will all now go through the committee’s process.
A. Prete Construction
Columbus Family Academy, on Blatchley Avenue in Fair Haven.
Exactly what makes a good name for a school is still up for debate. As the committee began talking on Monday, the members decided they might eventually want to change Christopher Columbus Family Academy, a name that they said baffled them.
“Christopher Columbus was Italian,” Goldson noted. “I mean, there’s some ethnic conversations around that.”
“You mean ethnic cleansing?” asked Tamiko Jackson-McArthur.
“It was the times, I guess,” Goldson said. “Listen, we have a vibrant South-American community where he did a lot of alleged damage.”
“No, it’s not alleged,” Jackson-McArthur said.
Goldson, who’s not officially on the committee, later clarified that there’s nothing in the works to wipe Columbus’s name off the school. “That item was not on the agenda and was really a side discussion occurring, not an ‘official’ discussion,’” he said in an email.
The committee plans to review its procedures at its next meeting on April 9 at 4 p.m., which could include new provisions for the number of signatures, the district’s share of costs and background investigations for any future naming.