Committee submits new names for WCSU school district

By Curt Peterson

The Windsor Central Supervisory Union configuration and enrollment growth working group met Thursday, Nov. 3, with a primary goal to complete a step in the district renaming process and to present suggestions for full board consideration.

Nine names were winnowed from a public survey and solicitations from the elementary schools and middle/high school students. Committee members each voted for their three favorites, and the final four were determined through vote counting and discussion.

The four selected for the district board’s consideration were: “Mountain View School District,” “Calvin Coolidge School District,” “Riverbank School District” and “Central Vermont School District.”

Renaming the district is a branding project, intended to promote unity among the seven sending towns and to help distinguish the district from others in the area. The public survey indicated general community-wide agreement that “Windsor Central Unified Union School District” was clumsy and lacked panache.

School Board member Anna Sessa of Reading questioned inclusion of Calvin Coolidge as a namesake, as he was a wealthy white man and his reputation is not untarnished regarding racial and ethnic issues.

Student representatives Aiden Keough-Vella and Owen Courcey presented the committee’s work to the board at their Nov. 7 meeting. A final vote to determine the new district name will be made at the December board meeting.

The committee plans to publicize the names on local listservs and newspapers in the meantime, inviting further public comment. The intent, committee chair Keri Bristow has said, is to involve as many members of the community as possible in the final decision.