Committee offers 'Brookside Primary School' for new school name

June 12, 2021  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Third- and fourth-graders join the HUUSD School Board meeting June 9 to present the results of voting on a new name for Thatcher Brook Primary School. Screenshot.

The Renaming Team at Thatcher Brook Primary School this week presented to the Harwood Unified Union School Board the choice of "Brookside Primary School" as the new name for the pre-K to grade 4 school on Stowe Street.

Third- and fourth-graders from the school along with teachers recently formed the 15-member committee charged with seeking new names for the school and presenting them to the community. Last fall, students at Harwood Union High School and members of the Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition called attention to the history of the school's name and its ties to slavery in the 18th century.

The school is named after the Thatcher Brook, which runs nearby and which takes its name from an early landowner in Waterbury in the mid-1700s named Partridge Thatcher. A lawyer and surveyor from New Milford, Connecticut, Thatcher spent time in Waterbury mapping the new town but never settled in Waterbury before his death in 1786.

In his life in Connecticut, Thatcher acquired two Black children who married and raised multiple children, all enslaved by him and later freed after Thatcher died. That legacy sparked the community discussion to find a new name for the school attended today by children the same ages as the youngsters Thatcher kept as property.

The recent process solicited suggestions for new names. Between May 12-19, the public was invited to use an online form to submit suggestions for new names for the school and it listed the criteria that it would use to select finalists. 

On May 28, the committee announced that it had received nearly 250 suggestions and had narrowed it down to three to put to a community vote. Initially, the school communication suggested voting happen June 1-5 using an online form. The period was extended to June 9 after editors from Waterbury Roundabout and The Valley Reporter requested time to publish the notice about voting in their print newspapers (WaterburyRoundabout.org provides local news for The Waterbury Reader print weekly produced by the Times-Argus). 

The papers also printed a ballot that individuals could have used to cast a vote rather than use the online form. In announcing the results this week, Thatcher Brook Assistant Principal Sarah Schoolcraft who was on the committee said no paper ballots were received. 

The updated letter announcing voting also stated: “We look forward to bringing the results forward to the HUUSD School Board meeting on June 26th for final confirmation by the Board.” (The 26th was a typo since it refers to a Saturday. When asked about it, Schoolcraft said it should have stated June 23, the school board’s last meeting date this month before its summer recess.)

Voting happened online June 1-9, closing an hour before the school board meeting began on Wednesday. 

Committee members including students joined the board meeting via Zoom with a slide presentation to deliver the results. Overall, 615 votes were cast and "Brookside Primary School" received the most – 371 or 60% of the vote. "River of Light Primary School" named after the annual lantern parade involving the school received the second-largest number, 145 votes or 23.6%. In third place was "Winding Brook Primary School" with 99 votes or 16%.

Speaking for the committee, Schoolcraft said the new name for the school “will be Brookside Primary School, pending board approval.”

The moment was a rare one for the board to hear directly from some of their youngest constituents, Eight third- and fourth-graders joined the Zoom call and several commented on what it was like to participate in the renaming process. 

“It felt pretty exciting and important to be able to vote on a new school name that would make people more welcome,” said fourth-grader Gia Gendimenico. 

Third-grader Sam Phillips appeared to appreciate the significance of the exercise. “It felt kind of strange because things like this don’t happen really often, but I thought it was really nice to be able to have an opinion on what the name of the school should be and to be able to vote for that,” he said. 

All of the children thanked the board and board members thanked them for getting involved. 

“This is really exciting. It's so great to think about starting out next year with the new name. Thank you,” board Chair Torrey Smith of Duxbury said before the students left the call.  

Asked in an email Wednesday evening why the presentation was made June 9 instead of later as noted in the letter to the community, Schoolcraft replied: “Board leadership hoped to have a presentation to the board tonight, and given that students are still in school and available, we were able to practice at school and have students available to participate tonight. Because voting closed today, we were able to put it together so that students are able to leave this year knowing what the future holds, which was important to [Principal] Denise [Goodnow] and I. The final approval/board vote will still be confirmed at the meeting on the 26th [sic].”  

Attempt to discuss the timeline fails

The presentation on Wednesday came after a request by Waterbury board member Marlena Fishman who had previously worked on the renaming criteria this spring. “I’d like to move that we add an action item to tonight’s agenda to reconsider the Thatcher Brook renaming process and the timeline that was previously approved by the board,” she said at the start of the meeting. 

When asked to elaborate, she replied: “My thought is to just have a discussion about how this process has gone and to offer some feedback that has been heard from the community and also based on my additional research.”

The board then spent about 8 minutes discussing whether the item could or should be added to the meeting agenda. Some questioned whether board rules would allow reconsidering something previously approved and that has been set in motion. 

“We are very far into this process that was approved unanimously a couple months ago,” Smith said. 

Fayston member Theresa Membrino said she welcomed the discussion of the topic. “I’d be very interested to hear her thoughts,” she said, referring to Fishman. 

The board then voted on whether to add Fishman’s request to the agenda. It failed 5-4 with Smith not voting; the weighted vote came to 33.7% to 21.35%

With conflicts around school events with children this week, four members of the board were absent from the meeting including two of Waterbury’s four representatives, Kelley Hackett and Michael Frank, who joined the meeting later. Waterbury members have the greatest weight of 9.85% each. Also missing were Moretown member Kristen Rodgers (6.45%) and Warren member Jonathan Clough (6.7%). 

Reached after the meeting, Fishman said she was disappointed that the board didn’t take the time to at least discuss the issue further. She said in the past several weeks, she’s had conversations with community members who weren’t aware that the renaming process was ongoing. “Some people didn’t even realize voting had even started,” she said, noting that people with children in school were more aware than others. “It felt rushed and it lacked the engagement it needed.” 

Looking to expand the conversation

Wednesday was not the first time Fishman raised the issue of adjusting the timeline with the board. It was just the first time she did so in public. An email exchange with the newspapers over the voting timeline included all of the school board members as well as teachers on the renaming team and school principals. 

On May 28, Fishman replied to the email thread: “I’m glad to hear there is an extension on the voting period for renaming the school. The new date to me is still too soon...a name is important and how it is chosen. I feel the previous date and current extension puts a feel of urgency to renaming the school that isn’t necessary.” She shared an article about a school renaming process in Washington state that took two years. “It doesn’t necessarily need to take this long but more community engagement opportunities around the name change along with professional brand/marketing perspectives would also be valuable on the committee,” she offered.  

Seeing comments on social media critical of the renaming and questioning the process,  Fishman said she felt the community would benefit from more time and discussion for more people to participate and understand the issue. 

Earlier in the year when the school board heard from high school students and activists in the community focused on racial justice, they discussed the connection through time and the Thatcher name to slavery and oppression. 

The school was renamed from Waterbury Elementary School to take the name Thatcher Brook in the late 90s when Waterbury and Duxbury combined into one school system and a new middle school was built near the Crossett Brook in Duxbury. The school board at that time looked to name the new school and rename the primary school to not denote just one of the two towns. The brook names – Thatcher and Crossett – were chosen.  

School leaders earlier this year voted unanimously to update the primary school’s name given that the connection to slavery was now known. Many spoke of how that connection could be viewed today, particularly by BIPOC families with school-age children. 

Fishman said her intent in wanting to discuss it this week wasn’t to undo efforts already made. “We could build on what has already been done,” she said, suggesting the exercise could benefit from being more multi-generational. “I was disappointed they weren’t even willing to hear the feedback.” 

Elected to the board in March, Fishman said she is still learning how to navigate the board’s process for raising topics for discussion. But being that four members were absent this week, she said “that’s reason enough for me to try again.” 

When asked by a reporter how she views her role in trying to spark more discussion on this issue given that she is the only Black member of the school board, Fishman said she enjoys the challenge of “trying to adjust the system a little bit.” On the other hand, she said she doesn’t want to be viewed as “playing a race card.” 

She explained that in the meeting, she was focused on the procedure at hand to bring the topic to discussion. It wasn’t until later, she said, that she considered the optics. “That’s the duality I live in every day,” she said.  

The school board intends to vote on the recommendation later this month. Its next regular meeting is June 23. The goal of the renaming process approved by the board in April was to have a new name in place when the 2021-22 school year begins in late August.

Recordings of the HUUSD School Board’s meetings are online on the district’s YouTube channel and on Mad River Valley Television.