Regulation FDC-R(1) Naming Facilities (1) - December 8, 2025 - DCSD Board Meeting Archive

Board Policy Manual
DeKalb County School District

Regulation FDC-R(1): Naming Facilities Status: ADOPTED

Original Adopted Date: 02/07/2011 | Last Reviewed Date: 02/07/2011

Naming Facilities
I. NAMING OR RENAMING OF SCHOOLS
The following procedures for the selection of school names, mascots, and school colors shall be implemented
at the direction of the Superintendent under the following circumstances:
1. A new school is scheduled to open;
2. A school’s program or grade structure changes substantially;

3. The makeup of a school’s student population changes substantially due to school closures, school
consolidation, or rezoning; or
4. Members of the community or District staff propose that a school be renamed to commemorate
an individual or event.
A. Committee Selection and Protocol
1. At the Superintendent’s direction, a School Naming/Renaming Committee shall be formed
consisting of at least eleven but not more than fifteen members.
2. The primary Board of Education Member shall serve as the Chair of the committee. For purposes
of this regulation, the primary Board member shall be the Board member in whose district the
school or facility is situated, but shall not include a Board member from a super district.
3. Other Board of Education Members whose district includes the school or affected schools shall
serve on the committee.
4. The Area Assistant Superintendent serving the area in which the school or facility is situated shall
serve on the committee.

5. The individual who will serve as Principal of the school, if known at the time that the committee is
formed, shall serve on the committee.
6. The principals of the feeder schools that will be aligned with the school shall each select a parent
or a student to serve on the committee. If the naming or renaming is due to school closure, school
consolidation, or rezoning, the principals of the affected schools shall each select a parent or
student to serve on the committee.
7. If committee spots are still available, the Chair of the committee may select individuals who reside
in the school’s attendance zone to serve as at-large community members on the committee.
8. Once the membership of the committee has been determined, the Chair shall submit the names of
the committee members to the Board of Education.
9. The committee will meet at least three times over a four-month period (or longer if a second
community balloting is required). The Chair, with the assistance of the Area Assistant
Superintendent, will plan, coordinate and publish the date of the first meeting of the committee.
10. Dates and times for at least two additional committee meetings shall be established at the first
committee meeting. Committee meetings should be scheduled to allow maximum attendance of
committee members and to allow sufficient time to conduct research on potential names and to
receive input from the public. The school calendar and the Board’s meeting schedule should also
be considered when scheduling committee meetings.
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11. At least one committee meeting should provide individuals or groups with an opportunity to
propose names for the school. This meeting shall be publicized on the District’s website, at the
feeder schools, and at all affected schools (e.g., through emails to parents, postings at the school,
announcements at PTA meetings, school marquee or sign, etc.).

12. Minutes shall be maintained for each meeting of the committee. The Chair shall designate one
member at each meeting to take notes regarding the discussions had during the meeting. The
Chair or the Area Assistant Superintendent shall collect and maintain the meeting minutes.
B. Guidelines for Selecting School Name, Mascot, and Colors
1. The committee shall research the history of the area to be served by the school, any historic
landmarks in the vicinity, and any individuals who have had a profound impact on the area to be
served by the school or on the District as a whole.
2. The committee should avoid names, mascots, and school colors that are likely to cause confusion.
The committee should take into account the names, mascots, and school colors of feeder schools,
other District schools serving the same grade level (i.e., elementary, middle, or high), and schools
located in surrounding school districts.
3. If the committee proposes to name a school after a street, the proposed name should indicate the
location of the school within the local community. Street names that are extremely common (e.g.,
Peachtree Street, Second Avenue, etc.) should be avoided.
4. Unless waived by the Board, a school may not be named for a living individual or an individual
who has been deceased less than five years. Before proposing that a school be named for an
individual, the committee should undertake appropriate due diligence. This should include, at a
minimum, seeking information about the individual from public sources, immediate relatives,
former co-workers, family foundations, and others who may have information about the
individual. Immediate family members, if any, should be asked to sign a written statement
verifying that they do not object to the proposed use of the individual’s name.
C. Selection and Approval of School Name, Mascot, and Colors
1. By majority vote, consensus, or other means, the committee shall narrow down the list of potential
names, mascots, and school colors to the top three.
2. The top three school names, mascots, and school colors shall be placed on a community ballot (in
the form of Attachment “A”- Example Ballot) and shall be approved by the committee Chair.

3. Within ten days of the committee meeting at which the community ballot was approved, the ballot
shall be distributed via email to the principals of all feeder schools and any other affected schools.
The email shall instruct principals to copy and distribute the community ballots to all students in
their schools. Community ballots will be due back to each school principal within two weeks of
distribution.
4. Each principal shall forward the completed community ballots to the Area Assistant
Superintendent serving on the committee. The Area Assistant Superintendent will deliver the
ballots to the committee. The committee will organize the community ballots and record the
results at its next meeting.
5. Upon receipt of the community ballots, the committee will meet to review the results of the
community ballots and to vote on the name, mascot, and school color to recommend to the
Board. The committee should take the community ballot results into consideration, but the
committee is not bound by the results of the community ballots.
6. Selection of a new name, mascot, and school colors for the school shall be by a majority vote of all
members of the committee. Committee members who are unable to attend the meeting in person
may vote by proxy prior to the meeting. Proxy votes must be written, signed, and transmitted to
the Chair by mail, hand delivery, or fax no later than five days prior to the meeting at which the 2
vote is to be taken.
7. After the committee has selected a name (and corresponding mascot and school colors), the Chair
shall draft a memo stating the recommendation of the committee. Each member of the committee
who attended the meeting in person or by proxy shall be asked to sign the memo (see Attachment
“B”). All proxy votes submitted shall be attached to this memo.
8. The Area Assistant Superintendent shall draft a Board Agenda Item proposing the new name,
mascot, and school colors. The Board member serving as Chair of the committee shall present the
agenda item to the Board for approval. All committee members should be present at the Board
meeting at which Board approval will be sought.
9. In the event that the committee cannot reach a decision by a majority vote, the Chair shall
complete the memo listing the top two proposed names (and corresponding mascots and colors)
and sign the memo. The memo should be submitted to the Superintendent for review. The top
two proposed names (with corresponding mascots and colors) will then be placed on a new
community ballot and shall be distributed, collected, and tallied in the manner provided above.
The committee shall then vote again on the school name, mascot, and school colors in the manner
provided above.
10. The chosen name, mascot, and school colors selected by the committee shall be presented to the
Board of Education for final approval no later than the semester prior to the school opening.
II. NAMING OR RENAMING A PORTION OF A SCHOOL OR FACILITY
The following procedures shall apply when naming or renaming portions of schools or other facilities, including,
but not limited to, wings, grounds, stadiums, athletic fields, annexes, media centers, and rooms.
A. Committee Selection
A naming committee shall be formed consisting of at least seven and no more than eleven members.
Membership should include the school’s primary Board of Education member, as described above, the
school principal or facility director, at least three staff members, and two community members. The
principal or director shall decide on members from the community and staff. The Board Member shall
serve as the Chair for the committee.
B. Committee Meetings
The committee shall gather for a minimum of one meeting to examine the proposal for naming or
renaming a portion of a school or facility and balloting on the same.
C. Presentation
A presentation shall be made to the committee for the consideration of the proposed naming or
renaming. If the proposed name is in honor of an individual, the presentation should include the name of
the person being honored, reasons for honoring the individual, other locations within the school or
facility that have been named in honor of other individuals, a summary of the research and due diligence
undertaken about the individual, and any other relevant information.
D. Balloting
After the presentation and suitable discussion the committee shall vote on the proposed naming of the
portion of the school or facility. A majority of the votes cast shall determine if the proposal will be
accepted.

E. Board Approval
Once a proposal has been approved by the committee, the school principal or facility director shall draft
a Board Agenda item proposing the new name. All committee members should attempt to be present at
the Board meeting at which the name will be presented for Board approval.
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