Hays CISD Committee Recommends Names For New Schools

The committee spent several weeks reviewing more than 500 name submissions for the high school and more than 200 name suggestions for the elementary school before narrowing the list and making final recommendations. 

The 2017 Naming Committee of Hays Consolidated Independent School District will make a recommendation in November to the Board of Trustees to name the district’s fourteenth elementary campus Uhland Elementary School. It will also recommend that the Board choose between two names for the third high school – Buda High School or a name that honors William M. (Mo) Johnson, the first and longest serving superintendent of Hays CISD. 

The committee spent several weeks reviewing more than 500 name submissions for the high school and more than 200 name suggestions for the elementary school before narrowing the list and making final recommendations. 

“Naming a school is an important decision. These names will be in place at least 50 years and likely much, much longer,” said Tim Savoy, Hays CISD public information officer. “The committee was fortunate to have a number of viable and excellent options from which to choose. There are many worthy people who have made an incredible impact on the district, and there is a rich tradition of history in the local communities and cities. From the start, this process has been about having to select the best name choices from a list of great name choices. It’s a good problem to have, but it doesn’t necessarily make the final decision any easier.”

The committee recommendations will be presented to the Board of Trustees during its business meeting on November 27, 2017. By policy, and to give district residents a chance to contemplate the potential names, the Board will not vote on final name selections until its December 11, 2017, business meeting. Mascots and school colors would be selected later in a process involving the students most likely to attend the new schools.

A number of local people who made lasting impressions and touched the lives of the Hays CISD family through the years were on the short list of school name possibilities before the committee decided on its recommendations. They included: Jim Cullen, Dr. Jesse Porras, Lamont Ramage, Tex Hughson, Onesimo “Tete” Rodriguez, Nolan Kunkel, Suzie Kana, Robert “Cutty” Schneider, and Nancy Cavendish. 

In Hays CISD, the authority to name schools rests entirely with the Board of Trustees. Trustees make the selection based on recommendations from the naming committee whose members are appointed by the Board. The Board empaneled the current naming committee in August to recommend names for high school #3 and elementary #14. The construction of both campuses was approved by voters as part of the district’s May 2017 bond referendum. A third school in the bond, elementary #15, will be used to replace the existing Buda Elementary campus, and it will retain the current name.

View complete information about the naming process at www.hayscisd.net/name.