The late Jeanne Hopkins Lucas represented Durham in the state Senate from 1993 until her death at age 71 in 2007. She served as the chamber’s majority whip in the 2003-04 and 2005-06 sessions.  A former foreign language teacher at Hillside High School, she was senior chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s education/public instruction subcommittee at the time of her death. Before accepting her gubernatorial appointment to the state Senate, she was an administrator in the Durham City Schools, and then in the Durham Public Schools.  She retired as Durham Public Schools’ director of school and community relations in 1993.

John Harding Lucas, Sr. is a former school board member and was principal of Hillside High School for 23 ½ years. He helped to desegregate two state teachers associations, which became the North Carolina Association of Educators in 1970, and was “part of bringing us together” as Durham’s county and city school districts merged in 1992.  The National School Boards Association’s Council of Urban Boards of Education honored Lucas in 2009 with the Benjamin Elijah Mays Lifetime Achievement Award.

DURHAM -- When it opens its doors in August 2012, "Middle School B" will be graced with the name of two giants of Durham education and politics.

The school board narrowly agreed Thursday to name the school -- at 923 Snow Hill Road in northern Durham -- Lucas Middle School in honor of longtime educator John H. Lucas Sr. and the late Jeanne Hopkins Lucas, the first black woman to serve in the state Senate.

The board split 4-3 on the decision, with members Natalie Beyer, Heidi Carter and Nancy Cox voting against the name due to concerns with the district's school-naming policy. Policy 6090 states that new schools "normally will be named after townships, regions, or community characteristics" -- a key word being "normally," members in support of the Lucas name pointed out.

But the dissenters, stressing that they had deep respect for the Lucases, said they'd like to see a more open name-nomination process -- not one that allows nominations "on the back of a napkin," Beyer said, stating that she saw no reason to press forward with the naming right away.

Board member the Rev. Frederick Davis suggested the Lucas name at a June 14 committee meeting in which the board was presented with Highlands Middle School, Rocky Ridge Middle School and Snow Hill Middle School as possible names.

Cox wanted the naming issue sent back to the Administrative Services Committee so that the policy might be strengthened, but some of those who ultimately voted in support of the name suggested that those who wanted to step back were just trying to delay the decision they were charged with making.

Board Chairwoman Minnie Forte-Brown -- weighing in by phone from Memphis, Tenn., where she was attending a Council of Urban Boards of Education seminar -- agreed that the policy needed to be strengthened for the naming of future schools, but she saw no reason to put off the naming of "Middle School B."

"I think these two individuals would meet any criteria that we have looked at, from any school district that has criteria set," she said. "I think, in fact, if we look to the criteria that Wake County has, in terms of naming for individuals, these two individuals far exceed any of the criteria that has been set."

Before the discussion and vote, more than a dozen members of the Hillside High School alumni association brought the school board stories of how both Lucases -- not closely related -- touched their lives.

John Lucas was principal of Hillside for 23½ years, and Jeanne Lucas taught Spanish at Hillside.

Former students, Hillside educators and family members of the two spoke of their deep involvement in the Durham community and their dedication to education.

Bertha Hopkins Breese, Jeanne Lucas' older sister, said the late state senator went above and beyond to help students succeed, even going so far as collecting donations from her co-workers to help send students to college.

"She was a person who had everything to do with children," Breese said. "She had no children, yet she made herself a mother and a father and just a caretaker of all the children who had problems."

Mike Spears, a Hillside graduate and former president of the alumni association, repeated words that he said he's heard from many others.

"[John Lucas] helped guide many students through the turbulent years of desegregation, and he did it with a smile," Spears said. "He did it with honor. He did it in a non-violent manner.

"We can go and name a school after a rock or a hill, but we should remember the soul of individuals who have given their blood, sweat and tears to this community."

By Melody Guyton Butts of Durham Herald-Sun Newspaper