THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 10, 1997 TAG: 9701100497
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 55 lines
In New York City, the public schools are numbered. In Chesapeake, most are named for their location.
Simple.
But under a policy the School Board approved in August, a new middle school under construction on Cedar Road in the Deep Creek area will share the name of a prominent historic figure or role model.
The two most popular names offered at a public hearing at Deep Creek High School Thursday night were those of Hugo A. Owens, Chesapeake's first African-American City Council member, and Charles S. Brabble, long an educator and principal at Deep Creek Intermediate School.
About 30 people offered names - about 10 of them - which included Lake Drummond Middle School and George Washington Middle School, but some said they were just glad to finally be able to permanently honor those who had contributed to the community.
``We're very satisfied with the new policy,'' said March Cromuel Jr., president of Chesapeake's NAACP, who along with Chesapeake Forward sought the change.
Cromuel supported Owens. ``I feel the work he's done in the community would make him a positive role model for all students, not just African-American students.''
Others, including Ben Tiner, who teaches the DARE anti-drug program in Chesapeake public schools, offered both the names George Washington and Charles Brabble.
``The name of a school should help a community come closer together, and the two geographical features that connects the north and the south and the east and the west are George Washington Highway and the Intracoastal Waterway or the Dismal Swamp Canal,'' which Washington dug after a survey.
Brabble, who retired in 1990, was principal at Deep Creek Intermediate when Tiner first started teaching in the city. ``I just couldn't have more respect for him.''
The policy, which allows schools other than high schools to be named in honor or memory of a person, gained support from the School Board after a months-long debate about what to call a new elementary school on Cedar Road.
Some residents argued that individual names would give students role models and pride in local history. And because of the booming population, and the commensurate number of schools, confusion from similar names could be avoided.
Others argued to keep the geographic naming policy for tradition and simplicity's sake.
School Board member L. Thomas Bray, who chairs the name selection committee, said a recommendation probably would be made to the full board next month. ILLUSTRATION: PUBLIC HEARING
One more public hearing will be held at Deep Creek Central
Elementary School, at 7 p.m. Jan. 30.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE SCHOOLS CHESAPEAKE SCHOOL BOARD