At least 8 Fayette County schools could change names after review
Name changes could be considered for at least eight Fayette County Public Schools by a new committee approved Thursday by the school board.
So far, two schools — Dixie Elementary and Lexington Traditional Magnet School — have been recommended for immediate name changes.
No decisions have been made yet, district officials said Friday.
The names of six other schools have been recommended for further review: Yates Elementary, Stonewall Elementary, Henry Clay High School, Squires Elementary, Breckinridge Elementary and Martin Luther King Academy.
It was not immediately clear how the committee decided which school names to review, but they include schools named for Stonewall Estates, which opened in 1961 on the old Stonewall Farm; former Kentucky Congressman Henry Clay, who inherited slaves as a child but adopted some abolitionist views as an adult; and Civil Rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.
The potential name changes come after, in the fall of 2022, the Board of Education tasked an existing Equity Council Committee with recommending a school naming policy that reflects the district’s current values. Then, the council was tasked with comparing current school names and mascots to see if they were in line with the policy, and recommending changes if they weren’t.
The Equity Council Committee submitted names for review on May 21, and a new committee, approved Thursday, will undertake that review.
Katie Williams, director of communications for the school district on Friday said at the August 8 board work session, the only topic discussed regarding school names were the recommendations from the Equity Council Committee to consider name changes for Dixie Elementary and Lexington Traditional Magnet School.
The other schools are simply names that the equity council committee informed the board they are reviewing, she said.
“It’s important to note that no decisions have been made yet,” Williams said.
At Thursday’s meeting, Williams said, the school board instructed Superintendent Demetrus Liggins to follow established policy by forming a committee of local stakeholders for Dixie Elementary and Lexington Traditional Magnet School to review their campus names and determine whether a name change is wanted.
If the committee of stakeholders determines that a name change is desired, the administration will follow a process similar to the one used for naming the new campuses set to open in 2025: the Hub for Innovative Learning and Leadership (HILL) and Mary E. Britton Middle School. Only at that point, if it reaches that stage, would a recommendation be made to the board, Williams said.
Williams said the Equity Council Committee’s evaluation of school names will consider a variety of perspectives, including input from the community, historical context, and the impact on students and families before they make additional recommendations for name changes for any schools.
“We appreciate the community’s interest in this matter and encourage everyone to stay engaged as our ECC and (school board) continue this important work,” she said.
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