SISD needs input for new school, name, mascot
The Socorro Independent School District needs input for the name of its newest elementary school.
That school is set to open in July 2019 and will serve students in the area around Pebble Hills High School.
The district needs a name, mascot and color scheme.
Submissions may be emailed to descobar@sisd.net, faxed to 915-937-0194 or delivered to the Public Relations Department in the District Service Center at 12440 Rojas Drive by 4 p.m. Aug. 24.
SISD will put together a task force of parents, students, community members and district staff to review nominations and make recommendations to Superintendent Jose Espinoza and the SISD Board of Trustees.
The final decision in naming the school rests with the Board of Trustees.
HERE ARE SOCORRO ISD’S SCHOOL-NAMING GUIDELINES:
Each new school shall be named in a timely fashion and, if at all
possible, no later than the date the District advertises for bids on
building the school.
For each new school built in the District, the Superintendent or designee shall establish and facilitate a task force to receive and
evaluate recommended names. The task force shall consist primarily of community members chosen from the area to be served by the new school, members of the Bond Oversight Committee, and the Superintendent’s Advisory Committees.
The administration shall ensure that interested persons are informed of and afforded an opportunity to submit proposed names.
Each rationale for a proposed nomination shall be submitted in
writing, not to exceed two pages in length and shall include specific reasons why the school/facility should be so named. If an individual’s name is submitted, a nomination shall include brief biographical data and an account of the individual’s significant contributions.
District schools may be named for local residential areas, geographic locations, or similarly site-specific identifiers such as roads, streets, subdivisions, or communities.
District high schools shall not be named after or in honor of any individual.
An elementary, middle, or prekindergarten-grade 8 school may be named after an individual. The individual may be living or deceased; however, greater consideration shall be given to names of the deceased.
An individual, whether living or deceased, may be considered
based upon the following criteria:
1. The individual should have attained prominence locally,
statewide, or nationally, based upon contributions to the public
in recognized fields such as education, science, medicine,
law, art, government, business, justice, civil rights, human
rights, or military achievement.
2. The individual shall be a person of such integrity, stature, and
demonstrated ability that the naming of the task force within the third degree (consanguinity) or by marriage within the second degree (affinity).
The task force shall recommend to the Superintendent no more
than three proposed names for each new school.
The Superintendent shall present his or her recommendation to the Board at a regularly scheduled meeting as a discussion item. The recommendations shall be publicized to allow for public comment.
The Board may adopt a name for the school at a future regularly
scheduled Board meeting.
If the Board does not select a name from those that the Superintendent initially recommends, the Board may request that the Superintendent reconvene the task force to make further recommendations following the guidelines of this policy.
A petition shall be not be considered by the Board as a criterion for consideration.
At the appropriate time, the Superintendent or designee shall establish a committee to recommend a school mascot and colors.
This committee shall submit its recommendation to the Superintendent for final approval.
Once the school mascot and colors have been approved, any
changes shall require Board approval.
The names of Board members, the Superintendent, and the chief
operations officer when the school opens shall be placed on new
school building plaques. Those individuals on the Board on the
date when the final building bid is awarded shall have their names included on the plaque for that particular school.
The District shall accept recommendations for naming or dedicating a portion of an existing facility or an area within an existing facility.
The campus site-based advisory committee or the Superintendent’s designee shall consider recommendations.
The final recommendation shall be presented by the Superintendent or designee at a regularly scheduled Board meeting. Approval must be secured by a vote of the Board during a duly called meeting.
