School Committee Will Not Name High School Field After Hollingsworth

The Reading Public School Committee this week rejected the recommendation that it name the high school’s main field after former football coach John Hollingsworth.

Committee members said they worried that doing so would recognize one single coach over any number of equally deserving candidates and could send the wrong message to students.

Committee Member Hal Croft noted that the school holds many, varied athletic contests on the field, and that naming it after a football coach could suggest to students that football is more important than other sports.

He and committee chairman Chris Caruso also said that approving the nomination could place Hollingsworth on a pedestal above other coaches who would rightfully be called Hollingsworth’s peers.

“There have been a lot of Mr. Hollingsworth-type coaches who have roamed our halls,” Caruso said.

Croft suggested that the committee be “more powerful and general” when selecting a name for its most public facilities. For example, he said, the field or its surrounding stadium could be named for “all coaches” or “.”

The committee made clear that its rejection of the nomination wasn’t a comment on Hollingsworth as a person.

“It seemed as though he embodied everything that we believe in as educators and school committee members,” said committee member Karen Janowski.

The committee was also clear in pointing out that it could entertain future nominations to name a portion of the school’s grounds after Hollingsworth.