New names selected for two WRDSB schools

Students react to Waterloo school name change From CTV Kitchener’s Jeff Pickel: The WRDSB has decided on a new name for the former Sir John A Macdonald Secondary School.

Two more Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) schools are getting new names.

At a meeting on Wednesday, trustees gave preliminary approval to changing the name of A.R. Kaufman Public School in Kitchener to Hillside Public School.

Meanwhile Ryerson Public School in Cambridge will be renamed Blue Heron Public School.

The decisions are expected to receive final ratification at the next regular board of trustees meeting on Monday.

Following the renaming of what was formerly Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School in Waterloo last year, all three schools that the board identified as being in need of a name change in 2021 now have new names.

Ryerson was flagged because of Egerton Ryerson’s prominent role in the creation of Canada residential school system, A.R. Kaufman because of his support of eugenics.

WHY THESE NAMES?

At Wednesday’s meeting, WRDSB superintendents Evelyn Giannopoulos and Crissa Hill presented the new names to trustees.

“The name Hillside connects to the community neighbourhood, the school is located on a modest hill, and incorporates a surrounding street name,” explained Giannopoulos.

Hillside was accompanied by Elms and Evans on the short list of names brought forward to the community for selection. Hillside was the most popular among the student population.

Blue Heron was also the preferred choice from the short list of names presented to the public for consultation.

“The connection to both community neighbourhood and the natural world through the connection to the Grand River in Cambridge will offer students an opportunity to learn about, connect with, and develop respect for both the natural world and natural habitat in their neighbourhood,” said Giannopoulos.

TRUSTEE QUESTIONS DECISION

The majority of the trustees voted in favour of the name changes, with trustee Bill Cody being the only one opposed.

“Whose decision is it to change history and remove somebody’s name from history because a certain group doesn’t like this person’s name,” questioned Cody. “It’s not going to improve the physical building structure. It’s not going to physically improve the students' learning. I think it’s a horrible waste of time and a horrible expense of money that’s coming out of the school’s capital. The change of uniforms, to change letterheads, to change signs – the money could be used well spent on something else rather than taking somebody’s name off a history book because of a few people.”

Hill noted that the decision to change the names was made during a committee meeting last year, at a time when Cody was not present on the board.

“There was a significant process in the previous board to identify names that some students would not feel a sense of welcome and belonging [with]. So there was an environmental scan done of existing names, especially in schools that are named after individuals where that individual’s legacy in the moment in time may have represented one thing, but as we’ve moved forward, we’ve understood their legacy to mean something different,” said Hill.

GOING FORWARD

The renaming of all three schools identified by the board in 2021 is now complete, pending final approval at Monday's meeting, but will more schools be getting new names in the future?

When asked, Hill said there are no immediate plans.

“I won’t speak with absolute authority on this but if I remember the process correctly, the board identified the first three schools and then there’s a process within the policy if a name emerges from the community. Then the environmental scan can confirm what the community member is bringing forward. Then the board of trustees can approve whether or not the renaming process should follow,” she said.