FCPS’s Newest Elementary School Named for Brenda Cowan

Fayette County’s newest elementary school will be named in honor of Lexington Fire Department Lt. Brenda Cowan, who was killed in the line of duty 15 years ago this month, following a unanimous vote by the Fayette County Board of Education this evening.

Cowan was Lexington’s first black female firefighter and served for 12 years before her death. According to Women in the Fire Service, Lieutenant Cowan is the first black female career firefighter in the nation ever to die in the line of duty.

Brenda Cowan Elementary School, which is currently under construction on Athens Boonesboro Road, will open in August of 2019. The school sits within the coverage area of Station 18, where Lt. Cowan served.

The district received 132 different name suggestions from 617 people for the new school. Three other finalists were Cross Plains, the original name of the location where the school will sit; Joanna Childress, who taught music education at all the black schools in Lexington and at Ashland after schools were desegregated, and Jean Ritchie, an American folk music singer, songwriter and Appalachian dulcimer player.