Says Bol:

You might remember the Normandy school district here in the STL from the time when one of the teachers at the high school supposedly handed out AIDS to upwards of 50 students, as if it was dog-eared copies of The Great Gatsby, or the time when I had to visit one of the elementary schools to get $10 from my little brother, one of the most harrowing experiences of my life, which I later wrote about for XXL.

Of course Normandy was the first school district in the area, possibly evar, to name a school after Barack Obama.

The school it’s replacing could very well be the one where my little brother used to work. I honestly can’t remember, and he’s taking a nap. I do remember that it was in one of those aluminum buildings they sell late at night on the Fox News Channel (or so I’ve been told), and I seem to recall him saying it was gonna be closed and rebuilt. But where is the money coming from? The terrorists? Pine Lawn, the city it’s in (do a Google image search), doesn’t seem like the kind of area where people pay a lot of property tax.

The Normandy School Board voted unanimously this morning to name its new elementary school in Pine Lawn after President Barack Obama.

“If you put all politics aside, he exemplifies the American dream,” said School Board President Cozy Marks. “You can be whatever you want to be and whatever you put your mind to and work for, and that’s what we want our students to keep in mind and strive for.”

Marks said Obama’s name was submitted by students to a special board committee overseeing the new school project. The district had asked for name suggestions from all members of the school community.

The president beat out Wellston native Ella Priest for the naming right. Priest, whose name will be attached to the school’s new media center, was an active early educator in the Normandy school district, Marks said.

“This was also a very good candidate because it described the unity we are trying to build between Wellston and Normandy,” he said.

Marks said the board took its cue from the student suggestion and believed many of the district’s children identified with Obama’s achievements. The final vote was 7-0 at the special meeting.

The school, under construction near Jennings Station Road and Vetter Avenue, is expected to be completed later this year. The  school will replace Garfield and Pine Lawn Elementary Schools which Marks said are outdated and in need of significant repairs. The last school to be built in the district was Lucas Crossing Elementary Complex about nine years ago.

“This is going to be fresh, new and, more importantly for me, less costly to maintain,” Marks said of the new school.

Students, K-6, are expected to begin classes early next year after winter break.

Marks said the board had not heard of any other districts in the state naming a school in honor of Obama. He said the board was aware the name might be controversial given Obama’s fervent opposition, but noted the district has a history of naming its schools after U.S. Presidents. Besides Garfield, other schools in the district include Lincoln and McKinley.