New Orleans City Council members are urging the school district to preserve the names of longtime New Orleans schools that close or consolidate, an issue that is likely to become more pressing in the coming years as more schools shutter due to low enrollment.
City Council members unanimously passed a resolution last month that asked the district to “take all reasonable measures” to keep alive the names of schools that shut down, arguing that “changing or erasing these names risks erasing the living history of the city’s public education system.” It also urged the district to form a “Legacy Schools Working Group” of alumni, neighborhood leaders, historians and educators to determine ways to preserve and memorialize school names.
The Council passed the resolution just days after Einstein Charter announced plans to close Sarah T. Reed High School after this academic year, which raised concerns that another longtime high school name would be lost. The school’s alumni association has issued a plea for another school to take on Reed’s name and brand…