ANDERSON — Supporters of renaming a westside elementary school after “Jumpin’ Johnny” Wilson were preparing Saturday to blast the city with a petition drive.
The group hopes to collect 10,000 signatures from city residents encouraging the board of Anderson Community Schools to change the name of Anderson Elementary to John E. Wilson Elementary. Mildred Powell, Wilson’s niece and a leader of the renaming campaign, said she expected to present the board with the signatures sometime in the spring.
Letters were going out to friends of Wilson and local churches, Powell said, and more letters were eventually be sent to community organizations and businesses, asking them to collect signatures on two positions, one for Anderson adults and another for residents under the age of 18.
“We’re going to go at this in all directions,” Powell said.
Wilson was a basketball standout who led Anderson High School to a state championship in 1946. He went on to play for Anderson University and the Harlem Globetrotters. He is now an assistant coach to his son John Wilson II at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.
While no one on the school board has objected to Wilson’s merits for the honor, some have questioned the potential cost of a name change and pointed out that it would be against the school district’s policy on naming building.
Powell said she had looked into the cost of renaming Anderson Elementary. She described the expense of new signs and other needs as “minimal,” but declined to quote a cost estimate.
Anderson Elementary opened four years ago and was not mentioned as a possible candidate for closing as ACS struggles to cut $5 million from its operating budget.
A district policy adopted in 2006 states that the names of elementary schools must reflect their geographical locations. Some board members have said they would consider revising the policy.
“Basically, we’ll have to see what the community wants,” board President Teddy Bohnenkamp said. “We’ll have to take it one day at a time. We’ve just got so much on our plate right now.”
Powell said the support she was seeing should convince the board to agree to the change.
“We knew it was not going to be especially easy since their policy now exists,” Powell said. “But I think we have a good chance of making it happen.”
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