South Butler School District officially changed its name to the Knoch School District, which took effect Friday. Butler Eagle file photo

Justin Guido

The South Butler County School District is no more.

The district officially changed its name to the Knoch School District, which took effect Friday.

District Superintendent David Foley initially suggested changing the district’s name at a school board meeting in March 2019.

Foley said at the time that a name change would create a fresh start in every building in the district and positively change the district’s culture.

He said many people already referred to the district as “Knoch” because the middle school and high school have had that name since 1958, when Eva Knoch donated the land where the two schools sit for educational purposes.

Also, the district’s sports teams are the Knoch Knights, so many surrounding school districts referred to the district as “Knoch” for many years.

The school board voted 8-1 in December 2019 to move forward with the name change, with longtime board member Debra Miller dissenting.

Foley told the board then that the state Legislature would have to approve the change, and that state Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11, had offered to champion the issue in Harrisburg.

In January, the Legislature approved Mustello’s bill to change the district’s name, and Gov. Tom Wolf signed it into law in February.

The board voted once again to approve the name change later that month and set the wheels in motion to move from South Butler County to the Knoch School District.

Donna Eakin, school board president, said she is excited for the district and community.

“I think it’s a positive change, and I think it makes a more-unified district,” Eakin said.

She said the name on the marquee along Dinnerbell Road will be changed, and that Foley is searching for sponsors to fund it.

The signs on the district’s two elementary buildings will be changed during the summer by district maintenance crews from South Butler Intermediate Elementary School and South Butler Primary School to Knoch prefixes.

“(The district has) been looking into these changes for several months now, and they have a plan for changing the names on the elementary schools,” Eakin said.

The large, heavy-duty floor mats at the schools’ entrances will remain until they are worn out, and then will be replaced with mats that say “Knoch School District.”

Eva Knoch donated land to the South Butler County School District in 1958. The land, at the intersection of Knoch and Dinnerbell roads, became the home for Knoch High School and Knoch Middle School. Her great-nephew thinks she would be thrilled that the district’s name was changed on Friday to honor her donation.

Don Knoch, 67, of South Buffalo Township in Armstrong County, is the last surviving member of the Knoch family who carries the name.

Knoch, who graduated from Knoch High in 1973, is thrilled at the change.

“I know Eva would be happy about that,” he said of the great-aunt whom he never knew.

Knoch agrees that most people know the district as “Knoch” anyway, as he did when he was a student at the high school.

As an adult, he is very proud that his name is attached to an institute of education.

“When you’re young you don’t appreciate it,” Knoch said, “but now that I’ve grown up, I’ve learned to appreciate my heritage.”

The new web address to access the district’s web page is www.KnochSD.org.