The Weatherford Public Schools Board of Education voted to name the new West Elementary building Gen Thomas P. Stafford Elementary.
The new building, which is being built just north of the current school, will house second, third and fourth grade students.
With the name for the new elementary building settled, the district is seeking public input for the intermediate school, which is being built on the old East Elementary site. While nothing has been set in stone, the board would like to use “intermediate” instead of “elementary” since the site will have fifth and sixth grade students.
Board Vice President Kim Ingram suggested using something associated with Stafford’s time in the space program such as “Apollo” or “Gemini.”
Carter Robinson suggested using a simple name such as Eagle Intermediate School to leave room for the school to be named after another famous Weatherford resident down the road.
“I think we need to have some sort of mechanism to get ideas from the community on what they want to do,” President Dennis Green said.
Superintendent Chad Wilson suggested giving the community a survey with three or four names and a couple of blank lines to fill in other ideas. The board like this idea, so Wilson said he would work with local media and the school’s social media to reach out to the community.
No action was taken for the second school site name, but Wilson said he would bring back a list for consideration during the October meeting.