After reading the comments on the closing of schools in Rowan County, I was taken aback by some concerns relative to the closing of Faith Elementary School. The community’s comments appear to be not about closing the 90-year-old school, but that their children will be going to a school named for Elizabeth Duncan Koontz, an African-American who gave her life’s work to education.

Elizabeth Duncan Koontz School was named in her honor because of the work she did for all children and teachers in this country and this county. As the first African-American president the National Education Association, she never cared about children’s race or social-economic plight in life. Her concern was that children have the best that schools have to offer.

The Koontz school is 11 or 12 years old, with the state-of-the-art facilities. It’s the only majority African-American school in the Rowan County named for African-American. For those who resist, it appears that resistance is because of the name of the school. Shame!

We can ill afford to think that a name would make the difference in whether a child is warm, breathes clean air, has windows that let the cold in and heat out and goes to class in a building that has even floors and is free of the many other repairs that are needed in a 90-year-old school.

I also read where the former mayor of Faith stated that “nothing can happen until the fat lady sings.” It is really too bad that he did not just build “Faith Academy” during his tenure so that students could remain in Faith.

I think that the students will do fine and grow at Koontz school.

Finally, I commend school board Chairman Josh Wagner for being a good steward of our tax dollars and caring about how we can better educate the children of Rowan County.

— DeeDee Wright

Salisbury