School Committee declines to recommend changing Northeast Elementary’s name, defers to City Council

At its May 6 meeting, the School Committee invited public input on a possible name change of Northeast Elementary to John Daddona Elementary, memorializing the late educator and superintendent. After hearing mixed perspectives, the committee declined to make a recommendation, moving to share the public’s feedback with City Council to inform a final decision. 

The request to change Northeast’s name initially came from 95-year-old Margaret Cannon, a former Waltham school district employee who worked under Daddona when he was superintendent. Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy brought Cannon’s request to City Council, who sent it to the School Committee for a recommendation. Only City Council has the power to make the change, but wished to hear the perspective of the school community first.

At Wednesday’s public hearing on the name change, Cannon’s request via email was read aloud. She stressed Daddona’s work ethic, kindness and lifelong service to Waltham. Diane Kruger, a Northeast alum, former teacher, assistant principal and parent, whose mother was Daddona’s secretary for decades, also spoke in favor of the name change.

Nine other community members, all affiliated with Northeast in some way, spoke against the name change. Kelly MacAvoy, assistant principal at Northeast, said 88.9% of staff opposed the change when surveyed last month. “The city owes a debt of gratitude for the standard of excellence [Daddona] set… but we have history, we have a story, and we have a name.”

Several parents also spoke on behalf of their children enrolled at Northeast, who told them “none of our friends want the name change.” Members of the school’s Parent Teacher Organization pointed out that changing a name meant changing bank accounts, tax statements, signage and merchandise, and would be much more tedious and costly than one might expect. 

Some speakers asked that 617 Lexington St., the campus containing the superintendent’s office, the Dual Language School and the Valor School, be named for Daddona. They argued this would allow his legacy to live on without stripping an already existing school of its identity. 

During the committee’s discussion, the mayor gave a lengthy account of Daddona’s contributions to the district. She said she wanted to do as Cannon asked, but the decision was ultimately not up to her or the committee. 

Ultimately, vice-chair Debra Coleman said she did not feel comfortable making any recommendation for or against the change because it wasn’t under the committee’s purview. The committee moved to share the emails and in-person public input it had received with City Council and defer to their call.