Due to have reached your limit of free articles for this 30-day period I quickly copied and pasted - Owen J. Roberts School Board grapples with policy before renaming stadium By Laura Catalano, The Mercury Posted: 03/27/14, 9:54 AM EDT SOUTH COVENTRY – The Owen J. Roberts School Board legislative and policy committee recently reviewed a draft policy on naming district facilities, following a recent request to rename the high school stadium in honor of former football coach Henry J. Bernat. The new policy, if approved, would establish criteria, procedures and guidelines for naming a facility as a form of recognition. The committee opted to remove from the draft policy any reference to naming a facility for financial purposes. The decision to adopt a naming policy arose after a small group of citizens headed by Marlin Strohecker, a former district athletic director, approached the school board in January with a proposal to change the name of Wildcat Stadium to the Henry J. Bernat Stadium. He had hoped to have a decision from the board this month, so that the new name would be in place for football season in the fall. Bernat, who is now 84, served as head coach for the Owen J. Roberts Wildcats for 30 years beginning in 1960 and retiring in 1990. Under his leadership, the high school football team accrued 195 wins and boasted eight Ches-Mont League championships and one PAC-10 championship. Last month, Superintendent Michael Christian announced that a committee had been formed to consider Strohecker’s request. He also said that the board would need to adopt a policy on naming facilities before making a decision regarding the stadium. The board and administration have gathered policies from a number of other school districts in Pennsylvania as a basis for developing the draft policy. But at the board’s legislative and policy committee meeting Monday night, committee Vice Chairwoman Pamela Clouser Wolfe stressed that reviewing the policy, and even adopting one, was not indicative of whether or not the board would rename the stadium. “Tonight we’re here to focus on the policy and establish a valid policy. We’re not here to discuss whether to rename a facility,” Wolfe said. “And it does not mean that when we approve the document we will automatically start naming district facilities.” The draft policy isn’t aimed solely at naming a stadium. Rather, it encompasses a wide range of facilities including “buildings, components of buildings, auditoriums, gymnasiums, playgrounds, fields, laboratories, classrooms, equipment and any other property owned by the district.” It would not, however, apply to memorial trees or shrubs. The draft policy further states that the board would “retain control and ownership over the named facility,” and that naming would not constitute an endorsement “of any company, group or product.” It would require that naming proposals be considered by a “Naming Advisory Committee,” consisting of between five and nine individuals appointed by the superintendent. At least one member of the committee would need to be a board member. A decision to approve a facility name would need to be affirmed by at least six board members. The draft policy had defined two circumstances under which a facility could be named, with one titled “naming in recognition,” and the other “financial consideration for naming.” However, board member Melissa Booth strongly objected to the latter circumstance, which would establish guidelines for naming a district facility in exchange for a donation. “The public owns these facilities,” Booth said. “I object to any financial remuneration in exchange for naming facilities.” Board member William LaCoff noted that while naming for recognition “means there is something important about this person to the community, naming for financial consideration means there’s just enough cash involved. There doesn’t have to be a person of value behind it.” The committee agreed to strike from the policy all references to financial consideration for naming. Christian told the board that doing so would not necessarily mean the board cannot accept a donation in exchange for naming a facility at some point in the future. If the board wished to consider such a proposal, it could revise the policy to include language for that purpose. “Striking it now doesn’t inhibit the board’s goals in addressing the rest of the policy,” Christian said. “It leaves the door open for the board to discuss it later.” The guidelines for “naming in recognition” state that it would be done “in recognition of major contributions to the district of such lasting impact that the board considers special recognition is warranted of a kind not given to the many others who make significant contributions to the district.” Among the reasons cited for recognition were distinguished alumni achievement and outstanding service “that is expected to have a significant long-term impact on the district or community.” For a facility to be named after a person, he or she would need to meet certain criteria including: displaying outstanding leadership, being of historical significance, or making an “outstanding contribution to education humanity, or community.” No facility could be named after someone still employed by the district. In addition to the policy, the board also looked at a set of regulations for naming of facilities, based on the policy. The regulations state that if a facility is to be named in honor of a person, that person must have been “associated with the district for not fewer than 25 years.” The committee agreed to make a number of changes to the draft policy and regulations, primarily to remove all reference to naming for financial consideration. The revised draft will be presented to the board for a first reading at a board meeting scheduled for next Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the high school LGI room. Wolfe noted that the board is seeking to have a policy in place in order to address Strohecker’s request to rename the stadium. “Time is of the essence because we are running this policy (decision) congruent with a request that came in in January,” Wolfe said.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 16:31:39 +0000
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