By Dustin Brown
When the state Legislature drastically limited the authority of community school boards in 1996, one power they retained was naming their schools.
But now even that right is getting School Board 24 into hot water.
A resolution to rename a Glendale public school after a young cancer victim is stirring protests from parents who say doing so would be an affront to another student and teacher from the same school who also died of cancer in recent years.
At its monthly meeting Thursday night, School Board 24 is scheduled to vote on renaming PS 91 at 68-10 Central Ave. after Jamie Noelle Kocher, who attended the school until she died from brain cancer at the age of 12.
The board had already voted in January to rename a new 18-classroom addition at PS 91, scheduled to open in September, “The Jamie Noelle Kocher Early Childhood Wing.”
But the resolution was overturned by the central Board of Ed after Caroline DeFelice, co-president of the school’s Parent Teacher Association, filed a grievance expressing parents’ opposition to naming the wing exclusively for Kocher.
It turns out the school board is not allowed to name wings — only entire buildings or self-enclosed areas, including libraries or auditoriums.
Now board member Frank Borzellieri, who sponsored the original resolution, has returned with a proposal to name the entire school after Kocher.
“It’s his commitment to do something for this kid that’s driving him,” School board President Pat Grayson said. “It’s hard to overcome someone’s commitment.”
Borzellieri did not return a phone message left at the school board office for comment.
But DeFelice and other parents said they want to honor the memories of every member of the school community who has died recently in a manner that is equal and fair, a position outlined in a petition they circulated and intend to present to the board Thursday night.
“We the parents, teachers, staff and community members of PS 91Q do not want our school to be renamed solely after Jamie as there was another beloved child, Jennifer Emma Kunkel, and a teacher, Ellen Heimowitz, who also were part of our ‘family,’ who also fought and lost their battle to cancer within the same five-year time period,” the petition reads.
They are instead asking the board to keep the name of PS 91 — presently “The Richard Arkwright School,” named for the inventor of the cotton mill — and install a plaque inside the school that honors Kocher, Kunkel and Heimowitz.
At a PTA meeting held in the school auditorium Monday night, about a dozen parents joined DeFelice to discuss their concerns and mount a campaign to convince the board to vote against Borzellieri’s most recent resolution.
Their central complaint stems from the board’s failure to consult the school community before undertaking the resolution.
“I can’t understand why these people took it upon themselves to make a decision for us,” said Laura Zukas, the mother of a first- grader in the school.
Borzellieri submitted his first resolution to rename the wing for Kocher after the notices and agenda for the January meeting had already been circulated. Such last-minute additions are typically reserved for emergency measures that must be considered immediately — a litmus test the parents believe Borzellieri’s measure did not pass.
Furthermore, the board voted on the resolution without seeking comments from the public and only listened to speakers from the audience after approving it.
“They didn’t come to speak to us. There was no discussion at that meeting,” DeFelice said.
Robert Cermeli, a school board member who attended Monday’s PTA meeting, promised to relay the parents’ feelings to the rest of the board, although he would not commit to vote either way on the issue.
Still, he did offer his perspective on the notion of renaming schools.
“I kind of look at it as a tombstone — and you don’t change names on a tombstone,” he said.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
