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Dallas School Board Preserves Name Of Booker T. Washington For Arts High School DALLAS, TX (KERA) - The Dallas School Board has recommended against changing the name of the Booker T. Washington Arts magnet. At last night's board meeting, more than two dozen parents and students objected to renaming the school for Nancy Hamon, the donor who gave $10 million dollars to build the new campus. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more.

Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter: Hamon never asked for such recognition, but when the building in the Dallas arts district was finished earlier this year, the words Hamon Arts Magnet went up on the side. To brand new graduate Elizabeth Hudson, that was a problem.

Elizabeth Hudson: Adding Hamon Arts Magnet to the annex changes the whole name of whole school.

Zeeble: Angry parents and alums called each other and School Board member Carla Ranger about protecting the name of the city's first high school for African Americans.

DISD Trustee Carl Ranger: And if we have the name Hamon Arts Magnet, that gives Booker T. Washington another name. Booker T. Washington must have one name.

Zeeble: Trustees agreed the school will retain its name, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In August, they'll discuss another way to honor arts philanthropist Nancy Hamon. That's appropriate, says Joe Hudson, whose daughter, both parents, and generations of African American relatives on both sides graduated from the honored high school.

Joe Hudson: Anyone willing to contribute to the legacy of Booker T. Washington ought to be honored in some appropriate fashion. But the appropriate fashion is not in renaming the high school.

Zeeble: School Board members meet again on this subject August 14th. They expect to take a final vote on the last Thursday of next month . Bill Zeeble KERA news.
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