Facilities committee backs forwarding renaming of Andrews Field band storage to full board

The Norwalk Board of Education’s facilities committee on May 27 voted to forward a community request to rename the band storage facility at Andrews Field to the full board for formal consideration.

Deputy Superintendent Sandra Fayoese said the proposal came from Norwalk High School band director Chris Rivera and the band community to honor Doug Oraves, who has served as a visual instructor and band mentor in Norwalk for approximately 38 years. Fayoese presented a brief biography of Oraves and described the structure (currently referred to as the greenhouse) as band storage at Andrews Field.

Carpio, the facilities chair, and other committee members expressed support. Carpio said she would move the item onto the full board agenda; committee members indicated unanimous support to forward the request to the land‑use committee and the full board. Fayoese said staff would ask administrative staff (Jeanette) to add the naming request to the June 2 agenda or make a motion to add it if the agenda had already been published.

No formal approval to rename the facility was recorded at the facilities committee meeting; the committee action was a referral so that land‑use and the full board can consider the request and any formal naming policy steps. The committee also noted that state reporting and reimbursement processes require the district to keep the project name 'South Norwalk' for construction and grant paperwork until after July 1, separate from the community naming timeline.

If the full board and land‑use committee approve the renaming, staff said they would proceed with the formal documentation and any ceremonies. The facilities committee did not record a vote tally in the transcript; members indicated consensus to move the recommendation forward.