With a citizen group supporting using a former administrator's name on the county's next school, the board plans to create a procedure for picking names.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published March 2, 2004
BROOKSVILLE - Two months after the issue first arose, the School Board is ready to start talking about what to call its next new school.
But the committee that first broached the subject by asking to name the campus after former administrator Willie F. Stephens Sr. should not expect a quick resolution, either in their favor or against.
"We're going to be talking about how to name a new school," chairwoman Sandra Nicholson said.
The actual decision could take months, she stressed. The board has no policy on naming schools.
Nicholson said she would recommend a contest, where anyone can submit an idea for consideration.
"That's the way we did it when we named my school," she said. "It gets the people involved, makes them part of the process. It's going to be there forever, so I just think it's good to open it up to all suggestions."
As a rule, Nicholson said she did not favor using people's names. She was not alone.
"That's where it becomes a very sticky issue," board member Jim Malcolm said. "Once you start naming schools after people, it becomes almost a no-win situation. You always offend large segments of people."
More than 700 people signed petitions or sent letters to the board supporting the idea of naming a school for Willie F. Stephens Sr., who died in 2003. They lauded him as a leader, mentor and friend who served the district more than two decades.
Also in 2003, though, former longtime superintendent Ken Austin died.
"Who wants to get into the battle of who was a more valued contributor to the school district?" board member Gail David said. "I don't want to go there."
David observed that most schools in the county are not named in memory of anyone, and she preferred that practice.
"In a way, it's almost safer to choose a name like Suncoast Elementary, because then it doesn't get political," she said. "What's a name, anyway? I'm thinking we have to choose a name that's not going to be political in any way."
Board member John Druzbick said that since he was elected, the new school's principal worked with a committee to recommend the campus name.
"I have been comfortable with the way it has proceeded in the past," Druzbick said.
He did not rule out the idea of naming a school for Mr. Stephens, though he added that recent precedent made it more likely that a campus wing or building might be named for a person than the entire complex.
"I know there's a tremendous amount of support for Mr. Stephens," he said. "I will definitely sit and listen to what everybody has to say."
The board's next planned school is a 1,400-student, kindergarten through eighth-grade campus on Elgin Boulevard, scheduled to open in August 2005. It is slated to be a math and science magnet school.
The Willie F. Stephens Committee has urged backers to attend the session, which is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. today at the district headquarters, 919 N. Broad St., Brooksville. The workshop is open to the public.
