Remarks from Tuesday's meeting

Comments from some of the people who attended Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Selectmen, who voted 2-1 to support a Special Town Meeting article to change the name of the Dorothy Galo Elementary School to East Elementary School.

I just truly believe there should be no building named after a sitting employee of the town, whether it be a superintendent or another employee. I feel it causes a conflict of interest.
--Beth Rockoff
Hingham resident

As far as a seated superintendent goes, there is no naming policy in Hingham. If there was one that restricted us from doing that, obviously we wouldn’t have done that. And also at later meetings I had yet to hear people talk about why they really wanted East school.. There was only one woman I believe who said they felt it was part of Hingham’s history and I can agree with that to a point, but the school hasn’t been in use for 20 years and it has been completely rebuilt.
--Esther Healey
School Committee member

Bricks and mortar do not a school make. The East school has a presence in this community that although the bricks and mortar may have been razed…the school itself--and I think in the minds of many of us who have lived in town a long time--is still alive. The idea of naming a school after an individual, no matter how worthy, particularly a living individual, just doesn’t sit well and is not in conformance with the tradition of the town.
--Edna English
School Committee chairwoamn when East Elementary was closed in 1984

Changing a name is not fixing the process. It’s confusing and disruptive to the children that are going to be attending this school. It dishonors a life-long member of our community, and it sets a precedent to our town and others that our elected boards’ authority and legal decisions can be changed by a single group of individuals. I voted not to reconsider the name, not because I didn’t listen, but because I did consider all the points being made and still believed in my original decision.
--Linda Hill
School Committee member