The Clarke County Board of Education on May 8 agreed to form an ad hoc committee to rework Policy FDC, the district’s policy on naming or renaming facilities and spaces.

President Mumbi Anderson opened the discussion and asked whether the board wanted to keep the draft policy as written, form an ad hoc committee to rewrite it, or vote on the current draft. Board member Linda Davis said, “I would love for us to have that ad hoc committee,” and several other members voiced support. Doctor Patricia Yeager called the current draft “very convoluted and complex” and said that an ad hoc committee “makes sense” rather than reverting to the original policy. Doctor Lakisha Gant said she would “support the majority of the board” while also expressing concern about making the process so constrained that renaming becomes difficult in the future.

The board identified three volunteers for the ad hoc committee: Doctor Patricia Yeager, Linda Davis and Mark Evans, and set an approximate timeline to return a draft by August so the work could align with the start of the school year.

During the public-comment period, Pastor Sandoval asked the board to restore consideration this month for a proposal to rename the Cedar Shoals baseball field after Coach Jane Holston, saying the item had been removed from the agenda and asking that it be brought back in June.

The committee will review the existing FDC draft and prepare recommended language and an implementation timeline for the full board’s consideration. The board did not take a formal vote to adopt final language at the May 8 meeting; members instead recorded a consensus to form the committee and to return a draft in August.

Why it matters: Policy FDC governs how the district recognizes individuals and groups by naming buildings and spaces. Rewriting the policy could change who may be honored, what criteria apply and what process the public and the board must follow.

What’s next: The ad hoc committee members will develop a draft and present it back to the full board in August. A citizen request to rename the Cedar Shoals baseball field was voiced during public comment and may be scheduled for board consideration at a future meeting.