How do you ever decide to rename a high school Hough High School and open it up to obvious ridicule? As this report in The Charlotte Observer explains, when it comes to school boards, sanity and creativity don't always prevail.
For now, W.A. Hough (it rhymes with rough) High honors the legacy of a longtime North Mecklenburg High principal who died in 1998. He was principal from 1955 to 1974.
The name was recommended by a panel of parents, students and educators led by Terri Cockerham, principal of the new school. The school board OK'd the name Nov. 10.
Yet numerous parents whose children will attend Hough now say students at rival schools will purposely mispronounce the name in a way that describes women of ill repute.
"My two girls will never attend 'Ho High,'" James Good said in an e-mail to school board members, one of dozens sent by parents this week, most against the name.
Parent Lori Owen said her daughter cried when she learned the name of her new school.
"How can they expect the kids to enjoy and/or respect a high school that is going to be constantly ridiculed?" she e-mailed the board. "Huff" or "huffing" is also a form of drug use, Owen said.
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