Kaye McGarry, facing the camera, listened to constituents at Summit Coffee.
Kaye McGarry, vice chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, didn’t have much time to sip from her drink Thursday morning at Summit Coffee. She was too busy taking notes as a crowd gathered to talk to her.
“This was 99 percent about Hough High,” she said, as she wrapped up two hours of meeting with a steady stream of constituents. Ms. McGarry was in Davidson as part of her regular “about town” visits throughout the county. She told DavidsonNews.net that she has been holding coffee hours since 2007, and today’s session ranks among her top three in terms of attendance.
The hot topic that brought people out on a drizzly morning was the naming of the new high school in Cornelius. Ms. McGarry was among the 7-1 majority who voted at the school board’s November meeting to approve the CMS naming committee’s top choice of W.A. Hough High. (See Nov. 11, 2009, “It’s official: School on Bailey Road is ‘Hough High’”) The name honors a former principal of North Mecklenburg High School, who successfully oversaw integration of high school students in this area in the 1960s and 70s.
Since the board vote, some have voiced fears that the name will be mispronounced in offensive ways. Ms McGarry said all but two of the people who came to see her at Summit want the Hough name to go.
When asked if she would be willing to revisit the issue at the December board meeting, she said that, as an at-large member of the board, she would look to the representative for the affected district. That would be Rhonda Lennon, who will begin her work as the newly-elected District 1 representative at the Dec. 8 school board meeting. District 1 covers the northern side of the county, including Davidson.
“In a situation like this I go to my district person,” Ms. McGarry said. “They are closer to the situation.”
She stressed to the crowd at Summit that she had seconded the motion by Larry Gauvreau, the outgoing District 1 board member, to delay a decision on the name for the new school. The motion failed, and Ms. McGarry voted with the majority to approve the name of W.A. Hough High. She implied that she would be in favor of more discussion about name alternatives, but admitted there was no precedent that she knew of for setting up a second school naming committee.
Also during the coffee hour, Ms. McGarry said she heard concerns voiced about how the CMS naming committee was formed and publicized, and about how the three final names were selected by the naming committee. Ms. McGarry said she would not feel comfortable revisiting the vote strictly because of how the name Hough might be pronounced, but she would be willing to look at the naming process.
“My job is to make sure the process is followed,” she said. “I have to look at the policies and, in the end, my job is to make a decision. ”
LINKS
See our previous, related coverage: “Will CMS board member get an earful?” which has more about the naming committee.
COMMENTS: Join the conversation by posting a comment below, or alongside other comments here.
As a public service, DavidsonNews.net provides a forum for public discussion of issues like this one through our Comments section. Comments reflect the views of their writers, not DavidsonNews.net – we’re merely the forum. Learn how to register and comment and read our comment policy at http://davidsonnews.net/comment/
From what I have read, Mr. Hough was instrumental in integrating North Meck High School. Do people really want to deny him this honor because of his name? I know that those who oppose the naming of the new high school after Mr. Hough are not doing so because they oppose the integration of public schools, but rather because of possible mispronunciations or misappropriations of his last name. But, I do think that his work in integrating our schools is deserving of recognition. Children will always find something to rib other kids about (and if a 9th grader can’t take being teased for going to “Ho High” or “Huff High,” they need another layer of skin), but they may not always know the history of race relations in the context of our public schools. Naming the new high school after Mr. Hough provides one more opportunity to educate our children about the important role that integrating our public schools played in the development of our society.
Watch the kids singing on the way to school…….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaO_klSGuqY
Just adding a bit of levity to the debate!
In a comment on her Facebook page: “Since I haven’t sat through a (school board) meeting from the dais yet, I will withhold judgment.”
School board member-elect Rhonda Lennon, who will represent Davidson and other towns in CMS School Board District 1, made the comment on her Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/rhonda.lennon
Rhonda Lennon, the newly-elected school board District 1 rep, now says she will make a motion to rename the school and instead use Hough’s name on the stadium. “We don’t need more divisiveness in District 1,” she told the Charlotte Observer in an article Saturday.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/topstories/story/1068181.html
If Ms. Lennon is looking to avoid divisiveness, making this motion will not have the desired effect. A process was followed, the result has been reached. Our children will start taking notice of this issue, so basically we’re telling them two things: 1) Following a process isn’t as important as getting what I want, and 2) Don’t stand up for something that’s important (honoring a special educator), instead take the easy, safe way out.
Judging from the article in the Observer this morning, the press is assuming that parents are against the name Hough High. I have just written a letter to CMS informing them of two parents who support the name, and I encourage others of like mind to do the same.
I can’t believe this petty squawking has garnered a front-page story in The Charlotte Observer and led our newly-elected rep to even CONSIDER making a motion to rename Hough High. I feel like I’m watching a satire unfold.
Ms. Lennon, please consider what your motion would do: Rather than teaching our kids to wear the name of a good man with pride, we instead send the message that if you whine loudly enough, you’ll get your way.
I know that those who oppose the naming of the new high school after Mr. Hough are not doing so because they oppose the integration of public schools.
You sure? We’re talking about a district that replaced (outgoing District 1 school board representative) Larry Gauvreau with a candidate who ran on a “neighborhood schools” platform.
The objections to the Hough name are so silly, I’d about prefer to believe that we’re dealing with people who are nostalgic for the segregated schools they left up North.