South County Secondary School will probably be the name hung above the doors when they are opened to students in September. But don’t count out the possibility of "Lewis and Clark" just yet.
"I totally, honestly, have no idea which of those two names I am going to support right now. I’ve gone one way, and I’ve gone the other," said Fairfax County School Board member Daniel Storck (Mount Vernon) late Tuesday.
While Storck said he had no decision in advance of the Board’s vote on Thursday, Feb. 24, he said the School Board had whittled the names down to a possible two — "South County" and "Lewis and Clark," the top two recommendations of the community at a Feb. 7 nominating meeting. At that meeting, parents and students tossed out nearly 50 potential names, then narrowed the field to the top three choices. At its Feb. 10 meeting, the Board received the recommendation of "South County" as new business; and Storck said since that meeting, he has met with community leaders, civic groups and dozens of parents and students, and that allowed him to remove the community’s third choice, "Lt. Cmdr. Otis Vincent Tolbert," from the list.
"I think the sense you got was that "South County" was the preferred name from most [students], because they viewed it as having the most flexibility, with a mascot," said Storck. "The sense I got from adults was preferring a name other than ‘South County.’"
OTHER BOARD members said they would take their cue from Storck and Cathy Belter (Springfield), whose districts include the student population that will fill the new school, located off Silverbrook Road in Lorton on the site of the old Washington, D.C., correctional facility and workhouse.
"Normally, it’s the purview of the district member, because they interact with the majority of the community. I guess we’ll go with that unless there are some strong objections," said Tessie Wilson (Braddock).
New principal Dale Rumberger, on the advice of other school staff, will select the mascot name in the coming weeks, following the School Board’s vote on Thursday. Among the possibilities he tossed out at the naming meeting was the "South County Silverbacks," which was a popular choice, although a lowland gorilla-sighting is a rare feat in Northern Virginia.
The main drawback to "South County," said Storck, was that it might be too vanilla a name. Lewis and Clark are important historical figures who hail from Virginia, he said, but they still have no real tie to the area around the school.
"That’s the No. 1 [complaint] I’ve heard from people, is that it doesn’t evoke any sense of history, that people would like," said Storck, of "South County."
Nonetheless, "South County" received twice as much support at the naming meeting as its rivals, giving a clue to what the School Board may decide.
"The ‘South County’ name had [a ratio of] 2-1 more names than the next closest name. We want to honor the process," said Storck.
<1b>— Glenn McCarty