Savannah-Chatham school committee proposes new name for Groves-Mercer-Gould complex
Editor's Note: A previous version of this article listed Gary Monroe as a former Mayor of Garden City, which was inaccurate. The article has been updated to acknowledge that Monroe is the Garden City Homestead Committee President. The article also now includes references to all of the Naming Committee members.
The Harris Edwards Davis Educational Complex is likely to be the name of the first strictly 6-12 grade multi-site complex in the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS).
The new name for what has been referred to as the Groves-Mercer-Gould Multi-site Complex for over two years, was officially proposed by District 8 Representative Tonia Howard-Hall during the April 10 board meeting.
The suggested name change and grade shift are a result of months of contentious debate arising from the Long-Range Facilities Plan Phase 1, specifically among the Carrie E. Gould Elementary School and New Hampstead High School communities with SCCPSS leaders regarding the rezoning of each school's attendance boundaries.
Future School Zones: SCCPSS Board to vote on latest version of Long-Range Facilities Plan at Jan. 10 meeting
Who are Harris, Edwards and Davis?
Howard-Hall along with Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Bernadette Ball-Oliver, Garden City Homestead Committee President Gary Monroe (also a Groves High school alumnus), current Robert W. Groves High School Principal Monique Hazard-Robinson, current Mercer Middle School Principal Christin Pantin and former Mayor of Port Wentworth Glenn “Pig” Jones were part of the naming committee that ultimately chose the new name. Howard-Hall explained that the names of Harris, Edwards and Davis referred to the families who once owned adjacent lots in what was part of the Sweats Subdivision of Springfield Plantation.
Annie Edwards 04132023132053 Naming Enclosure by savannahnow.com on Scribd
Howard-Hall stated that the original lots did not have running water or sewage and that the homes on the plots were essentially cottages. She also noted that "these families owned this property, however, due to eminent domain and agreement between the Garden City and the Board of Education, [the three families] had to sell their property." That land would become the home of the original Robert W. Groves High School.
Another member of the Naming Committee was student, Summer Coleman, who, according to Howard-Hall, suggested to order the family names to "make it have a flow with Harris Edwards Davis." Howard-Hall shared that the order also happened to follow the order of greatest to least in relation to each family's amount of acreage. She also noted that there was a fourth plot of land used for the original Groves, yet records could not be found on who might have owned that land.
Groves remains Groves and Mercer will be Mercer
Howard-Hall explained that the overall "umbrella" name for the 6-12 multi-site will be Harris Edwards Davis Educational Complex, but that the individual school names for Mercer Middle School and Groves High School will remain.
Board rules require that the new name be presented at initial meeting and then voted on at the next, so the vote will take place at the regular meeting of the school board on May 1.
Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Renaming of Savannah multi-school site would honor displaced families
