TDSB supervisor scraps plan to rename three Toronto schools

The province-appointed supervisor for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has scrapped the trustee-approved plan to rename three schools.

The plan to change the names of Sir John A. MacDonald Collegiate Institute, Ryerson Community School and Dundas Junior Public School was initially paused in June in the wake of Bill 33, which would give the education minister more power over school boards.

The following month, TDSB Supervisor Rohit Gupta rescinded the renaming altogether.

According to board documents, staff presented Gupta with three options: axe the renaming, continue the pause pending legislation, and proceed with the process, along with the associated benefits and risks of each option.

Staff said cancelling the renaming would provide clarity to the impacted schools and preserve board resources, but it may damage its credibility and relationships with Indigenous communities, equity advocates and other stakeholders.

Staff also advised that abandoning the plan “could be viewed as erasing or invalidating community voice and previous consultation processes, negatively impacting students, staff, and communities who have engaged in this work in good faith.”

The board previously said the renaming of the three schools was in response to increased public attention on schools that are named after individuals with “historical legacies” that “no longer represent the values and perspectives of our students and communities.”

Staff estimated the cost to rename a school would be approximately $30,000 and may increase to $60,000 depending on the size.

Gupta was appointed in late June after the province said a ministry-appointed third-party investigation found financial mismanagement.

He has the authority to make decisions that the trustees would normally make.

Education Minister Paul Calandra has been vocal about school boards “wasting resources” just to change school names.

If Bill 33, or the “Supporting Children and Students Act,” gets introduced as law, Calandra would have the authority over school names when boards open a new school and/or change an existing school name.

“Our plan would establish ministerial authority to oversee school naming and to limit the time and money that boards spend on that,” Calandra said in May.

Recently, the minister has said that he can’t see ever handing the boards under supervision back to trustees and indicated that he is mulling eliminating the position.

“Minister Calandra has been clear, the current school board governance structure is based on an outdated system that needs to be modernized. All options, including changes to governance and the role of elected trustees are on the table,” Emma Testani, Calandra’s press secretary, said in a statement last month.

“Our focus is to provide students with better outcomes and certainty, and we are looking to finalize governance changes as soon as possible.”

With files from CP24’s Codi Wilson and The Canadian Press