School board names new school in southern Logan County

When construction starts for the upcoming elementary school, the building will have a name after being unanimously approved by the Board of Education (BOE) on Monday night.

After 12 minutes of discussion, the Guthrie school board considered two names after one recommendation was turned away by the request of a family.

The complete discussion can be viewed following this article.

With an unanimous vote (6-0), the (BOE) approved Charter Oak Elementary as the name of the building that is set for construction as early as March.

The school is located on Charter Oak Road in southern Logan County. The school will sit east of the Douglas Blvd. and Charter Oak Rd. intersection, which is two miles north of Waterloo Road.

Superintendent Dr. Mike Simpson said he reached out to Kenneth Mitchell, Frank Davis and Woodcrest Fire Chief Luke Young for the history of both of the name suggestions.

For the second time, a school has been named after the road. Charter Oak School was located in what is now known as Sooner Road. The school was one of several in Logan County to be closed down in 1947. After it was closed, students were able to attend nearby schools of their choice. In total since the late 1890’s, nearly 100 school districts have closed in Logan County. The latest was Langston in 1993.

In November 2016, the school district sought input from the public on a name for the new school and received 75 forms. The three top choices were Charter Oak, Woodcrest and Hollie Chappell.

Chappell, who passed away in Feb. 2015, was a civic leader, school board member and was well-known for his generosity throughout Guthrie. However, the family declined the recognition.

BOE President Sharon Watts read from a prepared statement from Hollie’s wife Mary Lou Chappell.

“The family is honored to know that members of the community have recommended that the new school be named in honor of Hollie. However, the family has respectfully declined that recommendation. Hollie loved his community, children and the schools, but he would not have wanted any recognition for himself. It would not be Hollie’s wishes to have his name on the school.”

After back-and-forth discussion on whether to make a motion or table the item until next month, board member Tina Smedley said the community has spoken.

“I am comfortable with making a selection from one of the two that has been proposed. We put it to the public. This is the most popular two that we had. This is the community’s school, its not our (BOE) school.”

Board member Travis Sallee made the motion for Charter Oak and was second by Smedley.

Patrons of Guthrie Public Schools overwhelmingly approved a $16.2 million bond issue on May 12, 2015.  One of the largest items contained in the issue was construction of the elementary school.