School can’t see the Forrest, goes for the trees

What a difference an ‘r’ makes.

And Lake Forest Elementary School, which is off Lake Forrest Drive in Sandy Springs, is a prime example.

In May, the Fulton County school board planned to cast its final vote approving the name Lake Forrest Elementary. Before the board meeting, officials were asked if anybody checked to see whether Lake Forrest Drive was named for a Confederate general.

As a noun, “forest” is defined as “a thick growth of trees and underbrush …” according to Webster’s New World College Dictionary. On the other hand, as a proper noun, “Forrest” — as in Nathan Bedford Forrest — is the last name of a controversial Confederate general.

“To some, Forrest was a brilliant and heroic military tactician, but to others, he was the leader of a horrific 1864 war crime and embodied fear and hatred from his ties to the Ku Klux Klan,” according to material from a Civil War symposium at Kennesaw State University.

In a follow-up meeting, on May 16, the board voted to make Lake Forest the school name, with no mention of the dropped letter.

When asked, officials said the school wanted “an environmental focus,” and declined to say if Forrest and his controversial past had anything to do with it.