Morton wants name included in ‘Springfield School District’
MORTON » Council agreed at its July meeting to send a formal letter to the Springfield School Board asking that the name of “Morton” become part of the official designation of the Springfield School District.
“We of Morton Borough find no reason — historical, economic or political — that our own shared vision and commitment to our future generations should not be represented as a shared community with the proper names of both our towns included in the official title of our combined school districts.
It is the right time and the right thing to do,” the letter stated in part.
At council’s June meeting, Councilman Bob McGrath brought up the subject of adding the borough’s name to the school district and council agreed to discuss his proposal. McGrath listed several arguments for inclusion of the name in a draft of a letter that was tweaked and eventually approved for delivery by council to the Springfield School Board.
McGath cited both a township and a school district in Montgomery County that bear the name Springfield. He also noted that there is a “common misconception” that Delaware County’s Springfield Township and the Springfield School District are one and the same. “Of course, there is a simple and practical solution to this that clears away these questions once and for all, one that countless other school districts have made, a solution that would finally make the public education community feel equal and whole,” McGrath said in his quest for officially adding the name of Morton to the Springfield School District in its official and legal designation.
The latest letter to the school directors cites a recent mailing from the school board directors that pointed out that the students from Morton Borough represent a small minority of the total population of those attending district schools. But the mailing claims that those figures make clear that the majority of the minority of students come from Morton.
“The African-American community of Morton has suffered through the denial of equal education in our borough’s early years and felt the indignity of protest and rejection when the two districts merged in the mid-1970s. Beyond these injustices, some students have been ridiculed simply because they live in Morton,” the borough letter to the school board members stated. “A new name will send a strong message of inclusion in this time of division in our country.”
The borough letter indicated that the council members “would be more than happy to have further discussions” with the school board.
“The African-American community of Morton has suffered through the denial of equal education in our borough’s early years and felt the indignity of protest and rejection when the two districts merged in the mid-1970s. Beyond these injustices, some students have been ridiculed simply because they live in Morton. A new name will send a strong message of inclusion in this time of division in our country.” — Morton Borough letter to the school board