A new Wake school won’t be named Lizard Lick. Here’s why board rejected name.
The Wake County school board rejected using Lizard Lick Elementary as the name of a new school, even though it was supported by the majority in a community survey.
The Wake school board voted 5-1 on Tuesday to use Marshburn Road Elementary as the name of a school that will be built in the Lizard Lick community near Wendell.
In a community survey, Lizard Lick received over half of the vote from supporters while Marshburn Road received the second most votes.
But the board majority said they weren’t ceding the naming decision to the community.
“The intent of gathering the information from my understanding was not to give the complete power of our community to name it,” said board member Toshiba Rice. “We took that as a piece of consideration, which was a very important piece.”
Concern about Lizard Lick name
The school will be at the intersection of Marshburn Road, Lizard Lick Road and N.C. 97. Construction is tentatively expected to be completed in 2029.
Lizard Lick is an unincorporated eastern Wake community founded in the 1700s. During the school board’s facilities committee discussion last month, school administrators had recommended going with Lizard Lick Elementary.
But some board members raised concerns that the name is too closely connected to “Lizard Lick Towing,” a reality TV show that aired on TruTv from 2011 to 2014. The show followed the adventures of Ronnie Shirley and his wife, Amy, who own a towing and repossession business. Lizard Lick Towing, the business, is still operating.
Lizard Lick is also known for being the site where Nintendo released the video game “Yoshi’s Story” in 1998.
Instead of recommending a name to the full board, the committee asked for public feedback on three options: Fall Branch, Lizard Lick and Marshburn Road.
Fall Branch was proposed because it’s the nearest geographic feature to the school. Marshburn Road was suggested because it’s likely how the school will be accessed.
Community backed Lizard Lick name
Administrators had also initially proposed a fourth option of North Wendell. But that was rejected by the facilities committee because the district has moved away from naming schools after towns.
Administrators mistakenly included North Wendell in the survey, and it got the most community support with 39% of the vote. Lizard Lick was second with 28%.
The board asked staff to redo the survey, minus North Wendell as an option.
In the new survey, Lizard Lick came out on top with 52% of the vote. Marshburn Road got 25% and Fall Branch got 23%.
“Many favored Lizard Lick due to its historical significance, community identity and unique character despite some concerns about negative connotations from the TV show and potential stigmatization,” said Glenn Carrozza, assistant superintendent for school choice, planning and assignment.
As a compromise, school board member Lindsay Mahaffey suggested using Marshburn Road while having a lizard be the school’s mascot. Board member Sam Hershey said they could revisit the name at a later date.
Christina Gordon, Hershey, Mahaffey, Rice and board vice chair Tyler Swanson voted for Marshburn Road.
Cheryl Caulfield, whose district includes the school site, was the lone no vote. Caulfield said most of the feedback she received supported using Lizard Lick as the name.
“When we allowed the community to say what their choice was, we got 52% with Lizard Lick,” Caulfield said. “I’d hate to go back on that after we gave them the choice of giving their opinion.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2025 at 8:01 PM with the headline "A new Wake school won’t be named Lizard Lick. Here’s why board rejected name.."
