The board of trustees approved the school name Jan. 13. The name follows the recommendation of an LISD community naming committee that met in December to discuss name submissions for the school and present recommendations to the board.
At the Dec. 16 board meeting, committee co-chair David James Martin said the committee’s decision to nominate North was unanimous because of the care and work she had put into the district. Co-chair Kasey Muse also said North had been nominated for several prior schools, and North was known as a champion of foundational literacy and education.
Board members were divided in approving the school name. Aaron Johnson and Sade Fashokun voted against the motion to name the school after North. Johnson said he received communication from community members that expressed a preference for the Bryson Hills name. He added school naming is a board responsibility and that there has been a struggle to find a process that works for the board, administration and community.
"In the concept of neighborhood schools, the name of the school should matter to the folks who attend the school," Johnson said. "I was persuaded a bit by the communications that we received from members of the community."
Board President Trish Bode said the board at some point will need to decide if naming schools after people is worth the tension or controversy in the process.
"We have, which is a wonderful thing to have, wonderful individuals who have served our community with love and attention," Bode said.
Board member Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia agreed that the board is struggling with the naming process and that the current process might not be the right process, especially as more schools will be built in the coming years.
"The part that gets really hard with this is all these people are so important, and you don't want to see your community pulling people apart, and we've seen that for a long, long time," Gonzales-Dholakia said.
Board member Anna Smith said this was a hard decision, but the decision to name the school after North recognized the work of the community naming committee.
"Here's a great example of this committee coming together," Smith said. "They all had different ideas of where they were going to land, and just being able to hear them come together, ... their reasoning, I think, was the most powerful thing in this kind of turmoil year with everything going on."
Carol North Elementary is under construction in the Bryson subdivision at 1840 Pleasant Hill Road, Leander. Attendance zones for the school were approved in February and offer crowding relief to Larkspur and Plain elementary schools.
