It is obvious by the number of people who came to Community Unit School District 201’s Board of Education meeting that former Westmont Junior High Principal Keith A. Becker changed the lives of students, teachers and people who worked with him.

Now the board will decide whether to change the name of the school in his name to honor him.
The board decided Oct. 20 to form a committee to explore the option of renaming  Westmont Junior High to Keith A. Becker Junior High School.

Becker served as principal at the school from 1977 until he retired in 2000. He died in 2004 after a two-year battle with cancer.

School Board President Marie Charlton said more than 100 people signed a petition asking the board to look into naming the school after Becker, and, under district policy, will form a committee to explore the option.

“The committee will look at things such as how many people in the community would be in favor of the name change, what it would cost to do so, and the impacts of changing the name,” Charlton said. “Mr. Becker was an educator of utmost integrity. Changing the name of the school is a very significant commitment, and should not be taken lightly.”

The petition was bought to the board by eighth-grade math teacher Mark Forzley, who served as an assistant principal under Becker. Forzley said that with the fifth anniversary of his death, now is the right time to move forward with the idea.

“One of the reasons we want to do this is to establish Mr. Becker's first vision and identity for the students, staff and community of Westmont Junior High School,” Forzley said.

While it is clear Becker will not soon be forgotten at the school, what is unclear is how the committee will go about deciding when, or if, to go forward with the name change.

Charlton said she is not sure how long it could take for a committee to decide that, or how large the panel should even be.

“This isn’t something that will be done overnight, it will take some time,” she said. “As far as how long it could take to reach a decision, I honesty do not know.”

Charlton did indicate it is doubtful any action in changing a name could be done before the start of the next school year.

District officials said there could be significant cost in changing the name, which would require replacing signs, school stationary, business cards, internal documents, school uniforms and alerting other districts.

Interim business manager Kimberly Anderson, who went through a similar change at a school where she previously worked, said there is also a sense of identity a school has in the community, and changing the name can alter that identity.

“Not only is there name recognition in the community, but for other schools who send students here for sports and other activities,” Anderson said.

But many people in the community are in support of the change.

Mayor William Rahn, a retired educator from Lyons Township High School District 204, said Becker’s leadership style provided the best needed for each child.

“He led with utmost integrity, compassion and empathy,” Rahn said. “It was truly an honor to have known him, and I worked with him when my children attended Westmont Junior High.”

But School Board member Linda Kelly said she has received some calls from people in the community opposed to changing the name, and District 201 should poll the community before taking any action.

“Most of the calls have indicated we should not do it because of financial reasons and because of the identity that the school has,” Kelly said.

The School Board agreed that it will begin taking names of people interested in serving on the committee and will discuss at the next meeting what the next step should be in the process.

Want to serve?
Anyone interested in serving on the committee can contact the Community Unit School District 201 office at (630) 468-8000, or School Board President Marie Charlton by e-mail at mcharlton@cusd201.org.