NEWPORT — The School Committee may vote tonight to name a planned elementary school after the late Claiborne D. Pell, the beloved U.S. senator who grew up here and championed education during his long tenure in Washington.

The tribute would come before the construction project is even authorized — and with a years-long and contentious impasse over the school’s size and location not even close to being resolved.

“I think it’s an appropriate way to honor the senator,” Schools Supt. John Ambrogi said when asked about the naming resolution. “He’s arguably the most distinguished resident that Newport has had in many years and he did a lot for public education. And I think it’s an appropriate thing to make sure that the residents of Newport never forget that he was a Newporter and that education was one of the things that was first and foremost on his agenda at the national level.”

The day before Pell’s funeral last week, School Committee Chairwoman Jo Eva Gaines approached the senator’s widow, Nuala, with the idea of naming the new school after her husband. After the service, during a reception at Salve Regina University’s Pell Center for International Relations, Gaines and Ambrogi again mentioned the idea to her.

“She was very appreciative of the gesture,” Ambrogi said.

The resolution that the board will take up tonight reads, “Senator Pell displayed a passion to encourage self-improvement by providing assistance for educational opportunities to under-served citizens, thereby changing the lives of millions with the establishment of the Pell Grants in 1972, and Senator Pell was an esteemed and beloved resident of the City of Newport, raised his family here and enjoyed his vista.

“Therefore, be it resolved that upon completion of the construction of a new elementary school in the City of Newport, that school shall be named the Claiborne D. Pell Elementary School in his honor.”

Over the past several years, school officials have been divided in their votes on how to replace five old elementary schools in need of costly improvements. The plan the committee voted for last year would not be eligible for the usual level of state construction aid, and the committee later rejected a less costly alternative that state education officials said would be eligible for that level of aid.

rsalit@projo.com