The public will soon have a stage for voicing its opinion regarding the topic of school names.

The Port Arthur Independent School District board of trustees will meet Tuesday for its regular board meeting in the Administration Building on 4801 Ninth Ave.

Among agenda topics ranging from district expenses to maximum size, the issue of possibly renaming Robert E. Lee and Dick Dowling Elementary Schools will be opened for the community to participate in public hearings.

“The board will listen to the public and take suggestions from the public,” superintendent Mark Porterie said. “The board will not discuss the (matter) in open session nor will it make a decision (Tuesday) night.

“They will listen to the open community and discuss it at a later time in the October board
meeting.”

The issue of possibly renaming the two schools resurfaced during the board’s Aug. 23 meeting where it was a topic of discussion on the agenda.

Previously, the board had considered a renaming of both schools during the Aug. 24 board meeting last year. Further discussion was prohibited with the arrival of Tropical Storm Harvey.

“Let me say the discussion for the change (of names) of Lee and Dick Dowling has gone on for several years. This is not the first time we have discussed the changing of school names,” Porterie had said during the Aug. 23 meeting.

On Sep. 4, the district had officially started accepting suggestions for possible name changes for Lee and Dowling, both through its website and through written submissions turned into the Administration Building.

Online submissions would be accepted until 11:59 p.m. Sep. 28. Written ones would be accepted during regular business hours.

“I have to reserve my personal thoughts because I want the process to play out. I want the public to be involved just like the law requires,” board president Debra Ambroise had said during an earlier interview.

Both Lee and Dowling schools had been named after Confederate military figures, which has been the source of controversy in recent years for some Southern school systems.

In agenda items, the board would decide whether or not to approve the submittal of a maximum class size exception waiver for the 2018-2019 school year for Lee and William B. Travis Elementary Schools.

The waiver, which would be submitted to Texas Education Agency, would concern grades K-5.

The maximum class size and student-to-teacher ratio is 22-to-1.

Porterie said some of the classes may reach 23-to-1. He said a possible solution would be to bring in another teacher to bring the ratio down.

The board would also decide on purchases for the district including furniture for Tyrrell Elementary, educational software for schools and electrical work for lighting upgrades at the Memorial Stadium Football parking lot.

The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. with public hearings. Open meeting starts at 7 p.m.