Irle: The Great Debate

Sometimes a namesake can have more sentimental value and meaning, other times it's about carrying history. The Glasgow School Board discussed a possible decision on naming the new elementary school building at the school board meeting that took place on Wednesday, Oct. 8. What would seem like a simple decision, turned out to be more complicated.

A survey was open to the public for about a week. The survey asked if the new school would remain Irle Elementary, be named Glasgow Elementary, or become West Side Elementary. The results surprised a few school board members. About 64 percent voted for Irle, 27 percent voted for Glasgow and 8 percent voted for West Side, virtually eliminating the third option.

The question came up when family members of R.L. Irle called from Alaska, and asked if the new building was going to be named something different, they'd like some mementos from the namesake the old building carried. They didn't have any issues with a new name for a new school. Last week, two letters to the editor came into The Glasgow Courier and school board members received phone calls and letters relating to the subject.

It was also said at the meeting that the school could be named for other employees who worked in the school district and passed on. The issue with time came up when the items for the signs needed to be ordered so the construction company could carry on. Needing to know where cement backing would be placed so that rods could go into the sign and hold up the letters. That issue was taken out of the equation Wednesday night when Project Director for Sletten Cliff Garness said that the construction company could work around the issue and make it work. He told the school board that he didn't want them making a quick decision and regretting it later.

“We've already discussed how to make this work. If you can't make a decision now, it won't hold Sletten up,” Garness said.

Mona Amundson, a school board member, told the school board that she visited with 40-50 people on the naming of the new school. She said that much of the feeling she got was that this was a new time, new school and people felt it was time to change and that the school should represent all of Glasgow.

“Irle has been recognized for 50 years, that time is over, this won't be Irle school, this is something new,” Amundson said.

Nick Dirkes, a school board member, also said that he spoke to around 40 people about the new school name and he got much of the same opinion. He said that Glasgow Elementary was much more consistent and that he understands that there are some passionate people who want to name the new building after Irle.

“I looked at city and university building and generally buildings that are named are not renamed as new buildings come up,” Dirkes said.

He explained that on college campuses when old buildings came down, new buildings came up, usually named after contributors. He explained that this was the only building in the district named after a person. He also felt that the survey could be inconsistent, as a passionate person could vote from several devices with different IP addresses. He said that others may not have felt strongly enough to vote, and some may have not known about the survey.

Board member John Daggett disagreed. He said he had talked to about a dozen people and most didn't see a compelling reason to change the name. He said he did get a call that requested the name Glasgow, and they didn't want the name West Side.

Superintendent Bob Connors said that the teachers surveyed also thought keeping the name Irle would be good. Board member Susanne Billingsley said that a new building usually means a new name. But she stood by the survey results.

Dirkes felt that even the name Irle Elementary would still be a change from R.L. Irle Elementary, so it's still a name change.

Alison Molvig, board member and chair, had a fairly strong opinion and had written a statement for the board and audience members for the evening. She read that as a board member and part of the building committee and as a taxpayer, she believes the name should be Glasgow Elementary. She explained that millions of dollars are going into cutting edge technology and that this school will be very different from the current Irle building.

“We have freedom to start from the ground up,” Molvig said. “We need to be able to leave behind some traditions that are outdated.”

She went on to say that kids are being educated by technology, but teachers are more important now than ever and that teaching techniques are also changing to adapt. She also said that she has emotional ties to the old Irle school and could remember wandering the halls in the old building when it was new, but the fact remained the new school will not be Irle school.

Her points were that there were at one time three different schools with three names, and now it's one school that should be under one name, she also said that renaming a new building isn't appropriate when it was built on school and tax payer funds. She strongly believed that the tax payers of the Glasgow School District should be honored by the naming of Glasgow Elementary and that this should be the closing of one era, and embracing the next.

Amundson then motioned to name the school Glasgow Elementary, and Dirkes seconded the motion. Discussion then continued. One teacher in the audience asked if the survey mattered. Daggett again mentioned that he didn't feel a compelling need to change and didn't see a reason to justify it.

“Once you honor something, it doesn't stop with time; there's history there and I don't believe in a name change,” Daggett said.

Dirkes added that the survey results did mean something, but the school board has been elected to make these decisions. He said that the survey gives the school board an idea, but they aren't obligated to stick to survey results. One teacher suggested talking to parents at the parent-teacher conferences coming up, stating that this shouldn't be a reason to divide the community.

“This could go on and on, the board is part of the community,” Billingsley said.

She suggested making a vote or setting the discussion aside and moving forward, but that it wasn't something to take lightly. She also added that she heard validity on both sides and that there were good reasons for the choice.

The motion for the name change was rescinded and discussion was tabled to next meeting. As the meeting was about to be adjourned, Connors brought up the name again. He stated that the decision could go on, but anxiety over the issue would be present until a decision was made.

The survey was closed and Connors asked that people speak to their school board members on the issue before the next meeting took place.