NEWS

Seaman USD 345 Board of Education to hold public workshop Monday regarding potential name change

Tim Hrenchir
Topeka Capital-Journal
Members of the Board of Education for Seaman USD 345 plan Monday to take their next step toward determining whether the district will do away with the name of Fred Seaman, shown here, a Ku Klux Klan leader who died in 1948.

The Board of Education for Seaman USD 345 will take its next step toward deciding whether the district's name should be changed by holding a public workshop from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at Northern Hills Elementary School, 5620 N.W. Topeka Blvd.

Community stakeholders and the district's namesake advisory committee will also take part, said Candace LeDuc, USD 345's director of communications. 

The meeting's purpose will be to create a focus group of community members to engage with the board to help it understand the committee’s report and prepare for the namesake decision, LeDuc said.

The public will be able to access livestream video of the workshop by going online, LeDuc said.

More:Educator, community icon and KKK leader: Who was Fred Seaman?

The board has been under public pressure to consider changing the district's name since an October 2020 report from Seaman High student journalists Tristan Fangman and Madeline Gearhart confirmed rumors that USD 345 namesake Fred Seaman, who died in 1948, was a leader in the Topeka chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.

The board last March formed the nine-person namesake advisory committee, which was assigned to gather information about the topic.

Committee members on Oct. 11 provided their report to the board.

They made no specific recommendation about whether the district should change its name but provided considerable information for board members to discuss.