D&C story:Seeking inspirational names for two new high schools opening in the Edison Tech building this fall, Rochester school board members singled out labor and technology leaders with strong ties to the city.
But one of the board's top choices — Xerox Corp. CEO Ursula Burns — has declined the honor.
The school board is expected to vote on names for the two schools at an April 29 business meeting. At a special meeting Monday, several board members recommended Burns and local union leader Robert Brown for consideration.
Brown, longtime business manager of Laborers' International Union of North America Local 435, said earlier this week that he was pleased with the honor.
But Burns, during a conversation with Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard last week, said that, while she was honored, she felt the timing was not appropriate, according to Xerox spokesman Bill McKee.
And while most board members said they'd be pleased to name the schools for strong role models like Brown and Burns, others said the public should have been invited to participate in the process.
Neither Burns nor Brown attended city schools — Brown is originally from Florida and moved to Rochester after completing military service, and Burns was raised in Manhattan — but both rose to prominence in Rochester.
"Ms. Burns has been and continues to be a tremendous friend and supporter of our schools, and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership with her and with Xerox," district spokesman Tom Petronio said in a statement released Friday.
Asked about the honor of having a school named for him, Brown said, "I think that's a good idea." If approved, his name would grace the Robert Brown High School of Design and Construction, or something similar.
He said he worked for years to start a project at Edison that teamed union workers with students to build a house.
"We took the initiative to go over to Edison a couple times," Brown said. "We decided you can't learn very much in a 20-by-20-foot room. I came up with the idea, maybe we should take some students and build a house."
When the project finally took off, it earned the district acclaim and national attention when it was featured on the public television program NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in November.
Brown is also on the board that is governing the billion-dollar Facilities Modernization Program. In an interview earlier this year, he was critical of district staff controlling the project.
"(School district officials) want to run the show," Brown said then. "We are actually being used, as far as I'm concerned."
Asked Wednesday about his earlier comments, Brown said the situation had been resolved.
Ken Warner, executive director of Unions and Businesses United in Construction, called Brown an "unsung hero" who had been personally responsible for helping thousands of area minorities get jobs and training in the construction trades. Warner wrote letters to board members urging them to name the school for Brown.
"He is legendary not only in the union movement, but in the construction industry," Warner said.
"This is a 75-year-old guy who has more energy than you and I put together."
Board member Van White, who was not at the special meeting where the names were forwarded for consideration, said he thought the public should have a chance to suggest names.
"I think there should be a process by which community members can offer up ideas," White said. He said he would like to see a school named for civil rights and labor leader A. Philip Randolph.
Board member Cynthia Elliott also suggested Constance Mitchell, a local civil rights and community leader and the first African-American woman elected to the former Monroe County Board of Supervisors.
It's not yet known whose name, if any, will replace Burns when the board votes later this month.
Board members in recent months have been working on a new policy that governs school naming, but it has not yet been approved, board member Melisza Campos said.
Elliott said she supports the names, but more than anything, she wants the changes at Edison to work for students.
"I'm just hoping these schools are going to succeed," she said.
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Topic: Board considers names for two new high schools (Read 77 times)