The latest idea from the Mehlville Board of Education really takes the cake.

During a recent retreat, the idea to change the school district’s name was proposed. School-board members cited that the name change to something like Truman or Kennedy would give us a sense of community. It would also help those that aren’t aware that they are in this district feel like they belong.

I agree with Maureen Furlong’s letter last week when she asked the Mehlville school board if they didn’t have anything better to do with their time. The name Mehlville is our sense of community.

My daughter is entering kindergarten this year, and I have many friends who attended Mehlville schools and are now sending their children there. That is your sense of community, your legacy.

How would you like to say: “I went to Mehlville and now my daughter goes to Truman, which used to be Mehlville.”

But the biggest concern with all of this is the cost. Once again, the Mehlville school board has no idea about the finances. The cost of changing and reprinting every document, every piece of letterhead, every form, the newsletter, et cetera, to reflect the name change is not cheap. Everything would have to change — the Web site, the sign in front of every school, et cetera.

Oh how far we’ve come. Wasn’t it just recently that the Mehlville School District was in such financial trouble that we couldn’t bus our own children to school?

But now we can spend tens of thousands of dollars to frivolously change the name of the school district?

If you want to create a sense of community and belonging I have a few suggestions. First, send the Mehlville Messenger through the mail. I, too, did not know that the Messenger was in the Journal.

And I don’t appreciate having to rifle through a newspaper to find out information about my school. Also, everyone that you are concerned about that doesn’t know they are part of the school district would if they had the Mehlville Messenger delivered to them through the mail.

Let it bring us good news and news about our kids’ achievements. That spurs the sense of pride and community that the Mehlville school board is talking about. Yes, it will cost more to do this, but in this case, it is worth it.

Second, if you want to know what the community wants, ask us and let us tell you. Have the open forum.

In addition, send a questionnaire to a sampling of every grade at every school. Ask questions like: How are we doing? What can we do to improve? What are your concerns?

You can’t ask everyone in the district because it would be too much information to process. But an equal sampling of the district would get you started on the right track.

I do take pride in the Mehlville School District. Just please, Mehlville school board, please try to make changes to improve the district, not hurt it.

Nikki Hickman

Oakville