Naming policy rethought

‘‘We were looking at this as a financial opportunity [with the current policy],” board member Michael Schaden said this week.

The most recent rule reconsideration was brought on by a proposal to name a Middletown High School baseball field after the three Keller brothers, who grew up in the area and became prominent ballplayers.

One of the brothers — Hal Keller Sr. — is the father of Hal Keller Jr., the school system’s director for fiscal services.

The last time the board changed its naming policy was in 2003. The board was looking into a proposal to name the planetarium at the Earth, Space and Science Laboratory after Marvin Auscherman, a construction business owner offering to donate a large amount of money.

Thinking that could be a way to pour additional money into school construction, the board added a line to its naming policy, stating that part of a school facility can only be named ‘‘for or by significant donors.”

The Keller Field proposal came from a group of Middletown community members who criticized the board for basing their policy on monetary gain.

‘‘The Board of Education places a lot of emphasis on the ‘Character Counts’ program — this will recognize the people who exemplify that program,” said John Horine, one of three people who proposed Keller Field.

During a planning session on April 25, the board voted 4-3 to grant the proposal a waiver and approve the naming request.

Following the vote, the board discussed the future course of the naming policy.

Board members Schaden, Donna Crook and Daryl Boffman voted against the waiver.

All three said they would accept different ways of recognizing character.

They suggested placing plaques rather than naming entire facilities for accomplished county residents, which they said would encourage competition for a limited number of fields in the school system.

‘‘If we do this, we are going to be in a position to weigh the values of what people did,” Schaden said. ‘‘That is a slippery slope ... We could get in the middle of some terrible community issue.”

Leslie Mansfield cast the tie-breaking vote to make an exception to the naming policy for Keller Field.

‘‘I am voting on the side of character and contribution,” she said. ‘‘I just think we need inspiration in our lives.”

Despite their differences, all board members agreed the existing policy is not specific enough and needs to be modified.

School system staff suggested a number of ways to make the policy more specific, including setting up different rules for the naming of fields and press boxes, for instance.

Superintendent Linda Burgee suggested the board accept naming by merit only if community support is shown.

As the next step, the board will review a draft policy prepared by school system staff .