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It was a sad night. The BOE has the right to reject the Ronald McNair name, but the time to do it was a month ago on the first vote. This is an awfull thing to do. His niece, a rising senior at A & T will fee a little unsure about her community when she finds that Guilford County BOE found her uncle lacking in educational qualities. Everyone should look at the tape. The current BOE does not care about excellence anymore than a Billy Goat. It's embarassing.

Why did you block my post about the Guilford County School Board over on the "Back from Vacation" thread? It wasn't abusive or obscene, just critical of the BOE's spending policies.

I guess people aren't allowed to criticize a sacred cow like N&R attorney Alan Duncan & his Board of Education.

Just Saying:
I didn't block your post. Maybe our software flagged it as spam. I'll check.

Nothing bad to say about Mr. McNair, he is truly an American hero. However....

Did he attend any of the grades K-12 in the Guilford County system?

Doesn't he already have a building named after him at A&T?

Perhaps a better name for the school if the BOE is commemorating that sad day in history would have been Reedy Fork Challenger Elementary, or Challenger Elementary, or here's one in honor of the TEACHER that was on that mission, McAuliffe Elemenetary.

On a different note, is the N&R going to look into why one of the County Commissioners has a Federal Tax Lien filed on their business this month? Other than the fact that it means you are delinquent on your payroll taxes. Once again we have Bruce Davis babbling on about responsible budgets and he can't even keep things under control at his own business.

I think its really sad...I think we all know why neighbors in that area opposed naming that school Ron McNair. People just need to cut it out.

It's a shame they voted it down.
Dr. Ron McNair was a man who volunteered for the military and died in service to his country. He certainly has my respect and appreciation.

The question, Jaycee, is why. I know the issue of race can invoked too often and too recklessly -- and I know a white guy, Edward R. Murrow, can't get his name on a school building around here either -- but you've got to wonder.

I agree...sometimes race can be played to often in everything and I know race is not always an issue but I tell you. These people were just too passionate about keeping the school name Reedy Creek.

Racism is not alway out in the open like it was in the 1960s. Racism can hide itself behind alot of things and ideas.

Allen, I'm at a loss. Murrow was more famous than Dr. McNair, but I'd rate McNair as a true hero, someone worthy of honor as a role model for our community.
Our community has many famous and significant people whose names do not grace buildings. But since Dr. McNair was nominated for this honor, I think it's a shame it was voted down.

The real deal was not reported in the News and Record or the electronic media. The comments from the BOE members were the real story. I left the meeting with several questions: Why did many of the emails against the McNair name have a racial tone? When will the school board change the process for allowing a specific name to be attached to a school while it is still being built? Who really wields the power in naming a school ... the school board or a wealthy developer? What signal is sent to the community when a developer is allowed to name a school, promote the name, and place huge billboards before taxpayers can even give their input? Did the developer receive a win-win situation by donating the land for the school? Whose interests were really served? What does the term "community schools" really mean? Is a subliminal signal sent when ads scream "your children can walk to school?" Did you know there is a small sprinkling of diversity associated with our present school names? If a school is named for a person of color, can that school ONLY be located in one section of the county? How many local schools have been named for women? What did the McNair rejection say about racism, the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, and our community's unwillingness to honestly say we have some deep rooted issues?

What a load of BS this all is. I live on the other side of the County but I can sympathise with the Reddy fork people. They live in that community, they are proud of where they live and they identify with it. Why are they chosen to bear the name of Mcnair just because he was a hero? There are tons of other heros out there.

The people of the community and I mean those whos children attend the school should have the biggest say in the name not ideological do- gooders who's children will not go there. Now what have these people done. Its ended up in that race BS discussion again.
Justice was done.

Joe Stafford is clueless. Keeping the school name Reedy Fork in no way takes away from Ronald McNair. This issue was never about Ronald McNair, but Joe Stafford chose to make it that way. We have called the school Reedy Fork Elementary for 4 years, and now 2 months before the school doors are to open you want to try to change the name. Joe...read the policy, and review the tapes, this has nothing to do with McNair and everything to do with our community wanting to keep our name. I do not see how us wanting to keep our name has anything to do with Ronald McNair "lacking in educational qualities". Joe you need to retire from the BOE meetings, you've gone too far!

Just Watching:
Help me. I'm still attempting to grasp the allure of Reedy Fork as a name. What harm would naming the school for McNair have done?

There would be no harm. Again that's not the issue. It was never about Ronald McNair, it could have been Neil Armstrong or Christa McAuliffe and the stance from this community would have been the same. The issue is we have called this school Reedy Fork Elementary for 4 years. We have embraced this name and we like it. Why were we allowed to think that was the name of this school for 4 years and then they decide to change it? Why wait until 2 months before the school is to open to do this?

Your constant reference to naming a school after "a creek", shows how shallow your mind is. There happens to be a rapidly growing COMMUNITY here that is referred to as Reedy Fork...not just a creek. So everytime you refer to Reedy Fork as just "a creek", you are offending every resident in this community. Maybe you need to ride through this community and see for yourself before you and Mable Scott make some of the comments you have made, and refer to racism as you have. You will see it isn't about race.

I know we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

Will the students who attend the school solely come from Reedy Fork Ranch?

Does Joe Stafford live in the Reedy Fork Ranch or area?? Like I said before we'll have to agree to disagree. I'm not going to play this game with you. You have your opinions from your conversations with Joe and I have mine.

Actually, I'm not playing a game. I was asking because I don't know.

Is it ok for me to care about the kind of education your children have?

Reedy Fork is a large vicinity in Northeast Guilford County. Reedy Fork Creek runs through much of Guilford County (north of Greensboro) and has a long history of its own.

In 1893, Philadelphia lawyer and sportsman, James W.M. Cardeza, purchased a 3,200-acre tract of land just outside Brown Summit, North Carolina. Already steeped in history, the land had first been secured through a grant by the King of England, and later passed through many hands until the Cardeza family purchased it. Cardeza built a four-story mansion. On the surrounding grounds he made a hunting preserve, which he named Great Oaks Plantation.

In 1903, Joseph Hardie, a Scottish born farmer purchased the land and renamed it Hardie Farm.

In 1916, the Cone brothers (textile family) purchased Hardie Farm. The Cones began to raise stock and breed and fatten cattle for meat. Of the 3,600 acres of land they purchased, 3,000 were in pastureland and the remaining forest with 600 under constant cultivation. The Hardie Mill was thriving. It had a daily capacity of 40 barrels of flour and 150 bushels of meal. In addition, approximately 50,000 pounds of beef were sold annually and their 300 head of Hampshire hogs produced 15,000 pounds of hog meat every year. The farm became widely known throughout the county, and many visitors came to see its operation. The Cone Company Store, near the Cone family textile plants was stocked with produce and meat from the Mill. Most Cone textile mill workers shopped at the Company Store.

In 1946, the Cone era ended and the land was sold to Russell Hall, Sr. and several others. Hall renamed the farm REEDY FORK RANCH.

I have many childhood memories of swimming and fishing in Reedy Fork Creek, visiting the Hardie Mill, shopping at the Cone Company Store and counting cattle as my father drove up Hwy 29 North, toward Reidsville.

This community and name has been around for a long time---long before Starmount began developing the residential neighborhood. The school is not named just for the residential neighborhood. It is named for the entire Reedy Fork region of Northeast Guilford County (parts of Browns Summit, Monticello, Gibsonville, McLeansville, Greensboro, etc.).

Again Joe, does the name on the building tell the kind of education our children are going to receive? So did every student that went to the "directional" or "community" named schools get less of an education than the schools named after people? Is that what you're trying to say?