Wake school board picks "Little Creek" for new east Wake Co. school

Zebulon's next school will be named "Little Creek Elementary," the Wake school board voted unanimously Tuesday night.

However, the school board postponed voting on a name for the upcoming elementary school in Wendell's Lizard Lick community, citing a desire for more community feedback.

Little Creek runs near the future school, and the school would be in its watershed.

Last week, the school board's facilities committee recommended the Little Creek name over Old Bunn Road and East Zebulon. The school is set to open in 2029.

The board sought community feedback, including from a survey, on a second upcoming school in Wendell.

But the survey sent to some families accidentally included a name the board intended to not use: North Wendell Elementary.

The board didn't want to use a town name in the name of the school because of the likelihood that children living in Zebulon could also go there.

But 39% of survey respondents -- the plurality of respondents, by far -- preferred "North Wendell" to all of the other names: Lizard Lick Elementary, Marshburn Road Elementary and Fall Branch Elementary.

The board voted Tuesday to allow for more time before approving a name for the school.

The board had hesitated to select a name because they weren't sure how the community felt about the school being named for the area: Lizard Lick. The area is the site of a former reality television show, "Lizard Lick Towing."

Board Member Cheryl Caulfield, who represents the area, said the community needs more time to provide input, especially without "North Wendell" as an option.

"They were very grateful that we gave them a word and gave them some input on what it would look like since it is their community," Caulfield said, noting that some people had reached out to her wanting to take the survey but couldn't because it had closed.