by Charlene M. Brennan, D.Ed.

At the May 18, 2022, Stroudsburg Area School District board meeting, the board voted 5-2 with two members absent to rename our high school gymnasium after Ronald Spinner, a 44 year teacher, mentor, and coach with the winning-est record in Stroudsburg School District history.

I do not know Mr. Spinner at all; however, after listening to members of the public and former students speak about the contributions Mr. Spinner made to the district and to our students, the renaming of the gymnasium to honor him comes without question.  He is most deserving of this honor; which I believe was suggested 10 years ago.

The problem, though, is the board does not have an approved naming/renaming/dedication policy to guide the naming of district facilities as every other district in Monroe County has.  Board member Merlyn Clarke attributed the lack of policy to the “negligence of the board” and asked that the motion be tabled until a board policy could be developed and approved.  His motion died for lack of a second.  Past practice of the board, that includes the naming of the high school stadium to honor past employees, ruled the day.

I agree with Mr. Clarke and members of the public, who also agreed, that a policy should exist and needs to be developed.  I also agree that if past boards have discussed this action as was stated at the meeting and dropped the ball for the past 10 years, then past practice is all we have to go by and it will prevail–FOR NOW.

For example, what would the board do if next month someone else suggests renaming the administration building after another 44 year employee?  No policy, no guidelines mean the board would be hard pressed to reject such a request after approving the renaming of the gym last night based on past practice.

The fact is past practice is simply not good practice.  It lends itself to misapplication, misinterpretation, criticism, and simply unfairness from situation to situation. That is why good, sound board approved policies are so important to a board’s decision-making and why members of the public should pay close attention to and provide input to first and second readings of policy prior to board adoption.

The bottom line is this:  One of the major roles of all school boards is to set policies to govern and guide district and board decisions and to apply them equally to everyone and in all situations.  Everyone then knows the rules and requirements and even consequences, if appropriate.

The renaming of major district assets is no small matter evidenced by the other three Monroe County school districts all having such a policy, and I would venture to guess, although I’d just be guessing, that most districts statewide have one as well.  The Board’s policy committee needs to work immediately to turn past practice into policy for the naming or renaming of district facilities and not let it die for another 10 years.  Such action will lead to GOOD practice rather than past practice.

I want to thank Mr. Spinner for his service to our district and students and congratulate him on this honor.