What’s in a name? In the name Thomas Calhoun Walker, there is history, a legacy worthy of community pride, and, until now, a school ably preparing many of Gloucester County’s youngest residents for the future.

Time and circumstances have caught up to T.C. Walker Elementary School and, at this writing, the school is slated for closure.

The school board’s decision to close Walker Elementary has proved quite unpopular. T.C. Walker was a remarkable man, a first citizen in the county’s pantheon of heroes. One segment of the population wishes to retain the school as an honor to its founder, a man who was born a slave, got an education, and who led fellow residents coming out of the same lamentable condition into education and property ownership. Another segment wishes to preserve the school because it is small, because its students are high achievers, and because it gets consistently good results.

The tornado of one year ago that all but destroyed nearby Page ...