{"id":168439,"date":"2026-04-17T10:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T10:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/168439\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T10:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T10:40:12","slug":"eries-harding-school-or-boyd-school-vote-expected-in-coming-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/168439\/","title":{"rendered":"Erie’s Harding School or Boyd School? Vote expected in coming weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"

A decision on whether to change the name of an Erie elementary school<\/a> could be made in May.<\/p>\n

A committee has been evaluating a proposal to rename Harding Elementary School for John Boyd. The naming committee has\u00a0gathered community input\u00a0and is scheduled to report in early May to the Erie School Board, which could make a decision later in the month.<\/p>\n

More: These 5 priorities are in the new strategic plan for Erie public schools<\/a><\/p>\n

“The recommendation from the committee will be presented to the board at the May 6 committee of the whole meeting (and) for vote on May 13 at the regular board meeting,” School Director Linda Graff said during the board’s April 15 meeting<\/a>. She didn’t reveal what the recommendation would be.<\/p>\n

At least six of the nine school board members must vote in favor of a name change for it to occur, according to information on the district website.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0proposal to honor Boyd in the school’s name was made\u00a0in 2024. The Erie School Board that December approved the formation\u00a0of a naming committee to evaluate the matter. However, creation of the committee was delayed until late in 2025 due to the\u00a0hiring of a new schools superintendent<\/a>\u00a0that year.<\/p>\n

Graff said the committee met April 13 to review input from a briefing held in 2025 at Harding<\/a> and from online surveys. Survey results and other information<\/a> about the proposed renaming can be found on the district’s website<\/a>, she said.<\/p>\n

One survey received 71 responses, with 69 opposing a name change, one supporting it and one maybe.<\/p>\n

\"Harding<\/p>\n

Harding Elementary School at 820 Lincoln Ave. in Erie.<\/p>\n

Another survey included questions about what the “Harding” name means and if respondents had heard of Boyd.<\/p>\n

The survey found that for many students, \u201cHarding\u201d is not a person but rather an identity tied to school spirit and peer community. Also, the survey found that students who had heard of Boyd were more open to renaming their school but many preferred honoring him without changing the school’s name.<\/p>\n

Who were Harding and Boyd?\"Warren<\/p>\n

Warren G. Harding is shown at his newspaper, the Marion Star, during his 1920 presidential campaign. The photo was on display at the Harding Monument in Marion, Ohio.<\/p>\n

Warren G. Harding<\/a> was an Ohio native who served as president of the United States from 1921 until his death in 1923. His namesake school building was constructed at West Eighth Street and Lincoln Avenue in 1924 and opened in 1925.<\/p>\n

Boyd<\/a>\u00a0lived on Lincoln Avenue and attended Harding School. He served in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of colonel, flew fighter jets during the Korean War and studied air combat tactics and fighter jet design. He died in 1997.<\/p>\n

Starting in 2026: Erie School District to observe John Boyd Day every Jan. 23<\/a><\/p>\n

How to attend the May meetings?<\/p>\n

The May 6 committee of the whole meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the board room<\/a> at the school district administration building, 1910 Sassafras St.<\/p>\n

The regular meeting is scheduled for May 13 at 6 p.m. in the same location.<\/p>\n

Those unable to attend in person can stream the meetings live via the school district’s YouTube channel<\/a> or watch recordings later.<\/p>\n

Dana Massing can be reached at dmassing@gannett.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Harding School renaming decision to John Boyd decision coming<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A decision on whether to change the name of an Erie elementary school could be made in May.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[75816,30212,136,138,137,30982,75815,30983],"class_list":["post-168439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-community-input","tag-elementary-school","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-john-boyd","tag-linda-graff","tag-naming-committee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}