AGAWAM — The William P. Sapelli Elementary School will keep its name despite the opposition of a few parents.
In a 5-1 vote Tuesday, the Agawam School Committee rejected a proposal to change the name back to the Robinson Park Elementary School.
Last summer, the school was renamed for Mayor William P. Sapelli, who chairs the committee and who did not seek reelection. That rebranding did not receive universal community support.
Sapelli was a teacher, coach, principal, superintendent and mayor of Agawam for a total of 46 years. From 1990 to 2002, he served as the Robinson Park Elementary School principal.
During a public hearing Tuesday, parents spoke in favor of reverting to the old name, saying it is hard for students to adjust to a new one, given the school’s history and culture. They said the school committee skipped steps in what they viewed as a hurried process to change the name.
Committee member Kerri O’Connor attended the meeting virtually because of a temporary disability from a traumatic brain injury, she said.
O’Connor alleged the committee violated the state’s Open Meeting Law, did not follow policy and let someone influence the vote. She said voter intimidation occurred. Additionally, she said she had been left off a Dec. 9 email correspondence.
O’Connor made a motion that the committee table the vote until a formal complaint could be made to the state attorney general’s office and the town attorney had been consulted.
School Committee member Michael Perry said O’Connor was not included on the email because the committee thought she had resigned. Perry said O’Connor had indicated in an email she relocated to Florida.
O’Connor said she remains active in her role on the committee until her term is up in January. The motion to table a vote on changing the name failed in a 5-1 vote.
Committee member Wendy Rua said her takeaway, after speaking with families, is that when proposals are on the table, the committee should do a better job to present them properly to all stakeholders it could affect.
Shelley Reed, the panel’s vice chair, said she admired the passion of parents who shared their views Tuesday. She went on to list six schools that had been build, repurposed and renamed throughout the years.
The William P. Sapelli Elementary School in Agawam. (Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen / The Republican)
Reed said she believes the committee was transparent in the renaming process. Committee meeting dates were public, sessions were livestreamed and each meeting was posted on Facebook.
Reed praised Sapelli for his work as a principal and superintendent and said that is why she would not change her vote.
Reed said the school’s attorney has advised her that the renaming of Robinson Park Elementary School had not violated open meeting laws or committee policy.
Reed said the attorney noted public meetings that were held on May 23 — when the idea was proposed by Town Councilor Gerald F. Smith — and on June 23 and June 27.
According to Reed, the school’s attorney determined that the agenda and public hearings were posted for public information and the proposal was discussed by the committee at several meetings — when it received no public comments.
On June 27, the committee voted four in favor of the name change with one abstention — Sapelli himself, who is the committee chair.
According to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the school serves 277 students in grades K-4.
Smith previously told The Republican that three of the town’s four elementary schools are named after former superintendents and mayors. He said the school was given its original name because it sits close to Robinson State Park, and “was never meant to be dedicated to John C. Robinson.”
Robinson was a Springfield businessman who donated land to the state for recreational use in the mid-1930s. When the school opened on Begley Street in 1959, it was named after the park that abuts the property.
