After a survey, stakeholder sentiment on whether or not to rename General Smallwood Middle School is split.
Results revealed at the June 11 Charles County Board of Education meeting revealed that while some stakeholder groups who were surveyed skewed one way or another, the overall results of the 646 surveyed reflect 42% in favor of renaming the school and 42% against. The remaining 16% reported that they had “no opinion.”
The process for the renaming began in February when the NAACP made a request during a public comment session for the school board to rename schools named after people who were slave owners and requested that the board start with Smallwood Middle.
An online survey was conducted from May 20 to June 4. Presentations to students, staff and community members were held from May 20 to May 24.
Staff members were the most likely to favor a name change, as out of the 65 staff respondents, 62% agreed with changing the name while 28% disagreed. The remaining 10% had no opinion.
Students were the largest group surveyed, with 42% of 305 respondents saying that they would be in favor of the change and 33% of the students disagreed, while 25% had no opinion.
The two groups who disagreed the most with the name change were community members and alumni. Only 16 alumni responded to the question of if the board of education should rename the school, but 88% of them said not to change it.
Out of 82 community members surveyed, 63% of them disagreed with the renaming.
“We had more student responses than anything … to me, that’s really telling,” Nicole Kreamer, vice chairperson of the board, said. “Alumni and parents aren’t in the building.”
About 79% of everyone surveyed who was in favor of the renaming said that the reason they would want General Smallwood Middle School to be renamed is because the namesake was a slave owner.
Those who were not in favor of renaming cited costs to the school system, the fact that the school system may have to do the same for other schools and Smallwood’s historical legacy.
The cost of changing the school’s name could span anywhere from $64,500 to $124,500, with most of the variance coming from the type of sign the school chooses, according to a school system presentation. A traditional sign would cost about $10,000, while an LED digital sign would cost upward of $70,000.
Other potential costs include $35,000 for exterior school lettering, $3,000 for school graphic window film, $10,000 for school plaques, $1,000 for school banners and $5,500 for athletic uniforms.
“This is not just changing a name, this is something that benefits the community,” school board member Dottery Butler-Washington said. “Changing a name reflects that we’ve moved on.”
Some cited Smallwood’s Revolutionary War efforts as a brigadier general of the First Maryland Regiment and his tenure as governor of the state to show why they’re dissenting from the renaming.
Linda Warren, a school board member, said the community should be able to take “pride in a new name.”
“This is a non-negotiable for me. I feel very strongly about it,” Yonelle Moore Lee, chairperson of the board, said, in favor of the name change. “When you can correct something, you do.”
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