By Eric Cravey
FLEMING ISLAND – The Clay County School Board will discuss naming Elementary School “Y” at tonight’s school board meeting.
The school district’s naming committee has whittled a list of names down to three names that are up for consideration.
The first suggested name is Discovery Oaks Elementary School where its mascot would be the Voyagers. Frank DiBello, president of Space Florida, has even written a letter of support for the name.
“With the next generation’s educational voyage beginning in elementary school, what better way to inspire our youth than to name their newest school after one of our nation’s most storied and historic vehicles: Space Shuttle OV-103, aka DISCOVERY, and to have as a mascot the name of one of humanity’s greatest scientific instruments: the Voyager spacecraft, the only sign of man beyond our Solar System.”
A second name under consideration is Bear Creek Elementary School with the mascot being the Cubs. This name would be an homage to Clay County’s Black Bear population, which is labeled as “abundant” by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The third name under consideration is Canopy Oaks Elementary School with the mascot being the Cardinals.
School “Y” is under construction in the Eagle Landing area of Oakleaf and is targeted to open for the 2018-19 school year. The school is being paid for with residential construction impact fees, which prevented the district from having to borrow funds for the estimated $23 million project. It’s the first new school to be built in Clay County since Oakleaf High opened on August 26, 2010 for the 2010-11 school year.
The school board meets at 6 p.m. at Fleming Island High’s Teacher Training Center. Also on the agenda tonight, the board will hold its annual reorganization meeting where it will elect a new chair and vice chair prior to the start of the official meeting.