It’s often hard to tell what stories on this news blog will get a great deal of interest and which ones get little attention.  When I wrote my story Wednesday night on the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meeting, I knew one item would get more attention than most.  I had no idea how much people would read it.

It appeared to be a meeting like most others at first.  The companies recommended by the school administration to conduct a branding study and overhaul the school system’s Web site gave an overview of what they plan to do if awarded contracts by the board.

Once the presentations were complete, the first question from the board came from President Matt Burke – would this process look into changing the name of the Hamilton Southeastern Schools?  The answer was yes, if that is what board members want.

Board member John DeLucia then chimed in that there is often confusion from those outside our district, since we have one high school named after the school corporation (HSE) and the other high school named after the city within district boundaries (Fishers).

Another board member asked what the board would need to do if a name change was approved, and Superintendent Allen Bourff said there is a process but approval would likely be no problem.

Then Board member Sylvia Shepler asked where the money would come from for all this. HSE Schools CFO Mike Reuter said no tax money would be used.  The Coke Fund, money received for giving the beverage company exclusive rights in the school corporation, and other corporate sponsorship funds, would be tapped to pay for the branding and Web site projects.  Both projects total will cost roughly $98,000.

The board approved the contracts unanimously.

Once I posted that story, the hits just kept on coming.  Even as of this writing, the evening of July 2nd, a number of people accessed the article today.

Here’s what that tells me – this issue has struck a chord with local residents.  Let me be clear – there has been no decision made on a name change and we are a long way from that. There is no guarantee the board will change the name of Hamilton Southeastern Schools once the branding study is done, which could take up to 9 months.

The branding process includes looking for what image the school system wants to project. It can include visual components, such as a logo and Web site look.  But it can also incorporate a school district name change.

We are many months away from even a recommendation, much less a board decision on this matter.  In the meantime, I expect lots of local chatter on this subject.