At last week’s Board of Selectmen meeting, the board learned of a request from the regional school committee. They are looking for volunteers from Southborough to help the Naming Subcommittee.
Every five years, the Regional School Committee names areas of Algonquin Regional High School and its grounds. They are named after people “who have made extraordinary contributions to their field of service and/or the High School”.
The Naming Subcommittee is responsible for helping the committee make its decision. The subcommittee is made up of 16 people, including 3 members of the Southborough community.
The committee relies on the Board of Selectmen to recruit and name those community members. The Town shared a request for volunteers as part of their news release covering the January 20th BOS Meeting:
The Northborough-Southborough Regional School Committee is reconvening the Naming Subcommittee for a period of 18 months. This subcommittee is responsible for recommending any naming decisions as it relates to the High School, parts of the High School, and grounds. The makeup of the subcommittee includes three community members from Southborough identified by the Board of Selectmen. According to the school policy, community members should have residency of at least 10 years, and preferably 20 years or more. Interested community members should submit a letter of interest to the Selectmen’s office.
The subcommittee will accept and review Naming nominations from residents of Southborough and Northborough.
Nominees can range from Algonquin teachers to people “recognized nationally or internationally as paragons of their profession”. (Though nominees can’t have worked for the district or held elected office within the last 5 years.)
Both towns will post notices requesting submitted nominations. So stay tuned for that. (If you’d like more details, see page 87 of the Regional School Committee’s policy manual.)
To contact the Board of Selectmen (on this or any matter), email selectmen@southboroughma.com or mail to Town House, 17 Common Street, Southborough, MA 01772.
I have always been against naming parts of public school buildings after people, no matter their contribution. Naming the building itself is bad enough.. I feel that it puts undue pressure on people, and runs the risk of bending some noses out of joint.