Naming the New Middle School

An opinion piece by Board of Education Chairman Chris Drake

The Board of Education voted unanimously to form a naming committee to recommend a name for the new middle school that is scheduled to open in August 2021.  People are upset at the notion that the board would even consider naming the school anything other than Woodrow Wilson Middle School.  While I currently don’t have an opinion as to what the name should be, I disagree with those that suggest it should not even be a matter under consideration. 

First, some facts.  Sixth graders in town currently attend Keigwin Middle School, named for Ida Keigwin, an educator in town during the turn of the 20th Century.  Seventh and Eighth graders attend Woodrow Wilson Middle School, named after the 28th President of the United States.  By 2021, the current Woodrow Wilson Middle School will be demolished and a new school will be opened, which will educate 6, 7 and 8th graders.  We are not, as some have said, “building a new Woodrow Wilson,” but, rather, merging two schools into one.  One thing is for sure, the new school will only have one name. 

Since both the schools merging have names, it struck me that the obvious question was “what are we going to call the new one?”  The Board agreed, so we formed a naming committee to give us a recommendation.  That is, literally, all that happened.  We did not choose a name, we did not name the members of the committee, the committee has no first meeting scheduled and we are not -- as has been repeated much -- “renaming” Woodrow Wilson.  We voted in accordance with long standing board policy to form a naming committee to recommend a name for a brand new 6-8 middle school. 

So why all the fuss?  On the one hand, it is because some people in our community have an emotional attachment to the name “Woodrow Wilson” because they graduated from the former Woodrow Wilson High School.  That’s a fair argument, and one the committee should definitely consider.  While I, myself, have no personal attachment to the high school I graduated from and would not care if the Board of Education there changed the name, I understand that my view of the world is not shared by everyone.  So historic attachment to the name is something the committee should and certainly will consider.

There is also allegedly some “deal” that was cut when the current high school was constructed that said that the new high school would be called “Middletown High School” and the middle school would be called “Woodrow Wilson.”  This one I’m less sympathetic to.  First, the current middle school is called “Woodrow Wilson,” so the terms of the supposed deal have been met.  But by the fall of 2021, that school will no longer exist.  More fundamentally, I just don’t buy in to the typically Middletown notion that some alleged past deal binds the hands of future generations.  By law, the Board of Education has jurisdiction over the operation, control, and maintenance of the schools in town.  The current Board of Education can and should decide the name of the school being constructed under its watch.

I am confident that the committee will hear from many people who feel very strongly that the new school should carry the name of Woodrow Wilson.  I also suspect that the committee will hear from others who think that we should not name a building after Woodrow Wilson, because he was a racist.  https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/11/20/9766896/woodrow-wilson-racist.  Indeed, Princeton University, where he served as President, has removed his name from several buildings.  https://planetprinceton.com/2017/04/18/princeton-university-to-name-west-college-after-toni-morrison-woodrow-wilson-school-auditorium-after-arthur-lewis/

So the committee will undoubtedly have ample evidence for and against naming the new school after President Wilson.  I have heard less outrage -- in fact it seems to be the running assumption -- over the idea that Ida Keigwin’s name will simply be cast aside.  I hope that is not true, because by all accounts she was a wonderful woman, teacher, and mentor to Middletown’s many immigrant families.  https://www.courant.com/opinion/insight/hc-op-insight-corvo-immigration-italy-us-20180820-story.html.  A past Board of Education thought so highly of her that they decided to name a middle school after her.  Maybe the current Board of Education will feel the same.

Anyone interested in serving on the committee should express such interest by filling out the form located here, no later than Friday April 26.  https://forms.gle/QA3BaugjjCJKFcgu6.  The committee is limited to five community members, so not everyone who expresses an interest can be chosen, but the committee’s meetings will be public and all are encouraged to attend and offer an opinion.