District seeking name for school

BENTONVILLE — The School District is accepting name suggestions for its next building.

The fourth junior high school is under construction at the corner of North Vaughn and Holloway roads in Centerton. It’s scheduled to open in August 2020.

The district recently posted an online survey for people to submit possible names. That survey will remain available until Sept. 13. The School Board plans to consider the suggestions and choose a name at its Sept. 17 meeting.

The board discussed the matter Tuesday. Much of the talk was whether the family that sold the land to the

district should have the final say.

The district bought the 80 acres on which the junior high is being built from the family of the late Rex Grimsley for $1.4 million in 2017. That price included a $1 million discount from the family, a donation made in exchange for naming rights to either an elementary or middle school built on the property, according to the purchase agreement.

District officials originally intended to build a combination elementary-middle school on the property, but changed plans upon finding another site that was suitable for just an elementary school, according to Paul Wallace, director of facilities. That school, Evening Star Elementary, opened this month.

There’s still room on the Vaughn Road property for an elementary school in addition to the junior high, but the board hasn’t decided whether to build another school there.

Joe Quinn, a school board member, said he was inclined to give the Grimsley family naming rights to the junior high, although he opted not to push for a board vote on it Tuesday.

Board member Travis Riggs said if the contract gave the family naming rights only to an elementary or middle school built only on that particular property, he would have a hard time denying the family naming rights in any case.

“I’m not comfortable with taking a million dollars from someone and then just choosing to not build a building that met the conditions of that contract,” Riggs said.

The Grimsley family has expressed to the district an interest in naming the junior high school, Superintendent Debbie Jones said.

The board in 2017 approved guidelines for selling naming rights, attaching $1 million to an elementary or middle school, $2 million to a junior high school and $5 million to a high school as the appropriate price at each building level.

Bentonville is the only one of Northwest Arkansas’ largest four school districts that has such guidelines. The others are Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville.

Fayetteville has a threepage policy on naming rights, but it doesn’t list specific amounts of money for which naming rights will be sold. Instead, it states the superintendent will decide the monetary valuation of each naming right after receiving a recommendation from a committee of administrators.

Bentonville’s policy states a facility may be named after a geographic location or section of the community it serves; if named after a person, that person shall be “of exemplary moral character; have made outstanding contributions to the community; or be historically significant either locally, nationally, or internationally,” according to the policy.

The Bentonville board last month approved junior high school attendance zones that will take effect with the 202021 school year to incorporate the fourth junior high.

The board will approve a mascot and colors for the school at its October meeting. The school’s principal will be named in December, according to a timeline provided by the district.