To:

Members, Board of Education

From:

Maurice O. Green, Superintendent
Lekan Oguntoyinbo, District Relations Officer

Date:

January 9, 2009

RE:

Consideration of Re-Naming Guilford Primary Facility – Doris Henderson Newcomers School

At its December 2, 2008 meeting, the board voted to consider re-naming the Guilford Primary Facility the Doris Henderson Newcomers School. The board also decided that if the Newcomers program were to move to a new location, it would not keep the Doris Henderson name. However, the Doris Henderson name would become a part of any program that moves into the building.

Pursuant to our procedure on the naming of schools (FDCA-P), the District Relations Department received input from the community about the re-naming of the Guilford Primary Facility, which houses the GCS Newcomers School.

The consideration for re-naming was posted on the district’s Web site for a public comment period.  Of the 23 comments received, 21 supported naming the Guilford Primary Facility the Doris Henderson Newcomers School. One cited concerns about naming a school building for a living person and opposed it. Another was neutral, but raised concerns about the lack of an effective date for the name change.

RECOMMENDATION: The administration recommends that the board carefully consider the community comments. In the absence of a reason for change, the board should confirm its proposed selection of the name Doris Henderson Newcomers School and direct the administration to complete any needed documents to authorize the use of this name. Finally, administration recommends that the new name become effective July 1, 2009.