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Board Opening Door to Names

Posted on: Saturday, 20 May 2006, 09:01 CDT

By Erica Rodriguez, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

May 20--MANATEE -- Let the naming begin.

School officials are expected to kick off the naming process next week for four new schools.

Schools spokeswoman Margi Nanney said she will present information to members of the Manatee County School Board Monday at their regular 7 p.m. meeting about the submission of name nominations for elementary schools D, F, G and middle school BB.

"Basically, I'm just opening the process," Nanney said.

The name nomination period is scheduled to run from Tuesday through June 16. Anyone interested in making a nomination may contact the district's community relations department at 708-8770, ext. 2045.

Public schools in Manatee County are usually named for a person, place or historic event.

While high schools bear geographic titles such as Southeast or Palmetto, most elementary and middle schools are dubbed with the names of notables such as former superintendent William H. Bashaw and long-time teacher Ida M. Stewart.

Future schools are temporarily labeled with letters.

Once school board members have decided to name a school, they open the process to the public and accept nominations through the community relations office, which Nanney directs.

A committee of board members reviews the names and recommends the "top" candidates to the superintendent and the school board for discussion and a final vote by the board.

"The community will bring forth the name that will eventually be chosen," said Harry Kinnan, a school board member who has worked in the school naming process for the past few years."We think that's very appropriate to have the community involved in the process. . . . It's worked very well in the past."

The names leftover from the pool of nominations are kept on file for the next school's naming.

The most recent school named was Robert E. Willis Elementary School at Lakewood Ranch, which was dedicated this school year. Names leftover from Willis Elementary's pool include:

-- B.D. Gullett, superintendent of Manatee and Sarasota county schools from 1917 until 1933.

-- Eugenia Tison, who taught in Manatee County for 42 years.

-- Ruby Byrd, former chair of the Manatee County School Board.

-- Jessie J. Davis, longtime Manatee County resident and former school board member.

-- James R. Earnest, school board trustee in the late 1930s.

In other business Monday, board members are expected to meet for a budget workshop, in which staff will present information about development of the 2006-07 School District Budget. Items up for discussion include: the technology plan, school budget allocations and the food service budget.

Erica Rodriguez, Herald reporter, can be reached at erodriguez@HeraldToday.com [mailto:erodriguez@HeraldToday.com] or at 745-7095.

Recent school names

New schools named in the past few years include:

-- Virgil Mills Elementary School, which was completed in July 2004.

-- R. Dan Nolan Middle School, which was completed in August 2004.

-- Braden River High School, which was completed in January 2005.

-- Willis Elementary School, which was completed in November 2005.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.)

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