New Jennings campus plans updated

School board policy dictates how the name of a new campus is decided.

Superintendent of Schools Kirk Credeur detailed this rule during a Tuesday meeting of the Ward II Committee, where members discussed a new campus that will house pre-K through sixth grade students in the Jennings school district.

Architect Steve Hotard said it is in the best interest of the board to have a name chosen by February 2020.

“Our goal is to send the building out for bid in February next year,” he said. “It’s better to know the name of the school before then because it does affect small things in necessary documents as the project advances.”

The school board expects much public input on the campus name because it will combine two current schools, James Ward Elementary and Jennings Elementary.

District 1 school board member Jimmy Segura asked if the school must be named after an individual. Credeur said policy does not require this.

According to the board’s current policy for naming school facilities, no school, school building or public building can be named after any living person. This rule does not apply to streets or existing athletic facilities maintained by the board. The superintendent is tasked with soliciting proposed facility names from staff, students and the community, as well as establishing a timetable for the naming process.

To suggest a name, a Letter of Recommendation for Consideration that has been signed by at least 50 registered voters in a school board election district must be presented to the superintendent within 14 days of the beginning of the solicitation process.

Once signatures on each Recommendation for Consideration are verified, the suggestions are publicized for one week through school websites, school messenger phone notifications, parent newsletters, newspaper articles and/or the school of record’s marque announcement sign.

The school board’s Building and Grounds Committee will then meet within 10 days of the completion of the publicity period during a predetermined, publicized meeting to receive public input. A maximum of 10 people on each side of the proposed name, for or against, drawn from registered voters in attendance are allowed two minutes each to voice their concern or support for a recommended name. The committee then recommends to the full board whether to accept or deny a recommendation.

Credeur said, however, that the board must also determine how to handle the campus naming if several suggestions receive the required number of voter signatures.

“Then we need to get the ball rolling now,” said Denise Perry, District 4 member. She made a motion backed by Phillip Arceneaux of District 3 to give Credeur permission to create the timeline for naming the school.