CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – During the CMCSS School Board study session this week, the board was informed that, after further review, no modifications or changes are needed to the policy on naming schools.
Following the controversy surrounding the previously rejected name Freedom Valley for Elementary #26, board attorney Mark Nolan reviewed the current standing policy at the request of the board. “There had been a comment or a question of if we had to modify any existing policies,” Nolan told the board on Tuesday. “The answer is no.”
School Board’s authority
The board has a set of policies that distinguish their authority from that of the director of schools.
“In this particular (policy), there are certain things that the board is just going to do, and one of them is approve the naming of facilities and properties,” Nolan told Clarksville Now, “with no restriction. There’s no real restriction on that.”
Nolan said there had been a comment during the last board meeting that created some confusion by implying that the board had limitation on names for buildings.
“The board is free, as they see fit, to pick the name for a school,” Nolan said. “The director always, in the past, has suggested a name, and sometimes that suggestion was accepted and sometimes it wasn’t.”
Guideline for director, not board
The confusion, Nolan said, stems from CMCSS Policy Number FAC-A006, Naming of Facilities. “That is a guideline for the director,” Nolan told Clarksville Now. “Basically, when you make a recommendation, if there’s a historic school, it’s considered that, or if it’s a geographic area.”
He offered Richview Middle and the Hilda J. Richardson football field at Clarksville High as examples. The middle school got its name because the area used to be called Richview, and the football field was named after a well-liked principal with a long history of working at the school.
“That was something that the board approved,” Nolan said. “That type of thing about naming facilities just prevents an individual principal from saying, ‘Well, we’re going to call the new soccer field such-and-such soccer field,’ when there’s no real support and no action by the board. If you want to name a facility like that, then there needs to be some support and justification for it.”
Nolan explained that the policy gives the director a “guardrail” before a person brings something to the board, but this Naming of Facilities policy is not a limitation on the board. Board members do not have to file any petitions or paperwork to offer a name. “The board will just come up with names, discuss what is appropriate, and then vote on one,” he said.
County commissioner offers suggestion
As the meeting came to an end, the county commissioners in attendance were asked if they had any comments.
“I have just one quick comment since we heard this from Mr. Nolan,” Commissioner David Harper said. “I would suggest a name. One of those would be a personal friend of mine, Pastor Jimmy Terry. I would ask that you consider his name as a possible elementary school.”
Jimmy Terry Sr. was born July 22, 1937, in what Harper called “a time of extreme racial divide” in the country. Terry was encouraged by his faith to rise above racism and became one of the most admired and beloved ministers in Clarksville, Harper said. He was the founder of both the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church and Tabernacle Christian School. On June 21, 2017, Terry died, and his legacy left a lasting impression.
“He had a heart for education,” Harper told Clarksville Now. “One of his favorite things say about Clarksville is, ‘It’s a great place to live, a great place to work, and a great place to raise a family.’ That was a guy who spoke and breathed community with every breath.”
Since his passing, a monument in McGregor Park was installed in his memory, as well as the Jimmy Terry Sr. Memorial Highway along Providence Boulevard.
“If we had more people like him in our community, we’d have a better community,” Harper said. “When they (School Board) started thinking about different people, I thought, you know, if you want to name it (the school) for a person, naming it for him would be an excellent thing.”
The School Board’s next meeting is Tuesday, March 26, at 6 p.m. in the board room at Central Office, 621 Gracey Ave.
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