Not all school board members support the new elementary school name

By Luefras Robinson

The summer of 2004 was quite a productive one for Suffolk Public Schools.

Suffolk’s newest addition to its academic landscape, the $45 million King’s Fork High School, was completed. Students entered the hallways for the first time in the fall.

Also, in July, the school board moved forward with plans to build an 800-pupil elementary school in north Suffolk. The school will be known as Creekside Elementary, located at Shoulder’s Hill and Bennett’s Creek roads.

An advisory committee made Creekside its top name choice, with Bennett’s Creek and Shoulder’s Hill Elementary as the second and third pick.

Not all school board members supported the new name including Sharon Harris, John R. Riddick, and Chairman Lorraine B. Skeeter.

Superintendent Dr. Milton R. Liverman felt Shoulder’s Hill Elementary would continue the city’s historical trend of tying school names to communities and locations.

&uot;We’ve had a pattern of naming schools so they connect geographically and historically with the community,&uot; Liverman told the board. Liverman proposed Shoulder’s Hill (Road) Elementary, in part, because &uot;it draws attention to the area.&uot; He added that Bennett’s Creek is a bit &uot;overworked…and a lot of things are connected&uot; to it.

Creekside Elementary will open in September 2006.

luefras.robinson@suffolknewsherald.com