Residents, Greenville officials urge board to keep Madison County Central name and mark historic Greenville Training School

Judy Townsend, a lifelong Madison County resident and member of the county heritage committee, told the Madison County School Board on Feb. 18 she opposes a proposal to rename Madison County Central School and asked the board to keep the school’s current name.

Townsend said she and community members “do not think you need to change something that’s not broken,” and that roughly “90%” of people she spoke with opposed a name change. She called the Madison County name an established local identity tied to athletic teams and community history.

Why it matters: The name of a central school is a visible symbol for students, alumni and residents; the speakers framed the issue as both a community-identity decision and a local-cost question because changing a school name can require new signage, uniforms and stationery.

Board members heard parallel remarks from Ryan Kornegay, a Town of Greenville council member, who presented a resolution the town adopted supporting recognition of the Greenville Training School’s history. Kornegay told the board the town’s resolution documents the Greenville Training School’s role in local Black education, notes inequities in historical funding, and urges the district to consider the site’s legacy in consolidation planning. “We are very, very, very much in support of you understanding the rich legacy that comes from the town of Greenville and that land specifically,” Kornegay said.

Townsend and Kornegay both said portions of the consolidation work had been discussed in committee meetings that were not initially public; speakers said those meetings are now being published and were raised as a concern because early community input was limited. Townsend said she serves as a city commissioner representing District 5 and that many constituents there do not support changing the central school’s name.

The transcript records only public comment and no formal board action on renaming at this meeting. Board members acknowledged receiving the remarks; the district’s consolidation committee materials and any formal naming proposal will come back to the board for a vote at a later date.

Ending: The board did not vote on a renaming at the meeting. Community members left written materials—a resolution from the Town of Greenville—on the record and asked the board to consider historic preservation and local sentiment as consolidation planning continues.