Board eyes ‘pumping the brakes’ on renaming schools amid budget crunch

Thames Valley District school board trustees are considering pausing their school renaming program, citing the cost and lack of evidence of harm caused by some school names in question.

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The board has estimated the cost of renaming a school to be between $30,000 and $40,000.

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“I’m concerned about the financial impact of renaming the schools. I’m concerned there is some uncertainty around why different names cause harm,” London trustee Sherri Moore said at a board meeting Tuesday. “We asked for community input, but I don’t feel some of it has come with compelling evidence of harm associated with school names.”

Moore said her goal was “to avoid spending time and resources on schools that don’t need to be renamed but make sure we capture and eliminate any harm” by asking for further analysis by the board’s equity team.

“I’m looking for pumping the brakes,” she said.

In December 2022, trustees approved a plan to gather community input on 12 schools – including one school bearing the name of Canada’s reigning monarch – amid a sweeping review of public institutions associated with residential schools and broader racial injustice.

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A debate last month at a board committee meeting over renaming two London elementary schools – Lord Roberts and St. George’s – divided trustees as they struggled with balancing community feedback and a tight budget with equity issues in what some say is a flawed process.

Feedback from the school community found a majority in favor of renaming Lord Roberts, but not St. George’s.

The board is moving ahead of choosing a new name for Lord Roberts.

Lord Roberts was a British general whose exploits in India, Africa and the Middle East earned him many honors, while St. George was a soldier in the Roman army sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith.

Trustees faced pushback from their human rights adviser during the committee meeting over their decision to move forward with a name change for Lord Roberts only.

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Michelle Young, the board’s human rights and equity adviser, said the board needs to find a way to bring racialized voices to the process.

“The community participation was just that. It doesn’t necessarily determine that’s the direction,” she said. “We’re doing this because of equity and inclusion. . . If are voices already marginalized, they do not feel comfortable showing up at the table to say this is a colonizer’s name.”

Trustees later voted down a motion to add St. George’s to the list of schools that need a new name.

Other trustees say they are struggling with the expense of the reviews as the board faces a tight budget, despite the fact the money already had been allocated

“I am second guessing that decision for school renaming. It’s up to us to decide where we fiscally responsibly spend our money,” London trustee Lori-Ann Pizzolato said at the board meeting.

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The issue will head back to committee later this month to hash out a new direction for the school renaming process before coming back to the board.

The board already has given new names to two London elementary schools.

Ryerson public school on Waterloo Street was renamed Old North in June 2022.

Trustees voted to change the name of FD Roosevelt public school on Second Street to Forest City public school in March 2023.

Trustees were presented with an option to rename John A. Macdonald public school on Landor Street in London in April 2023, but they rejected the name. It’s not clear if the school named after Canada’s first prime minister will be renamed.

Schools recommended for community input for new names in December 2022:

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• Lord Elgin elementary school, London
• Lord Nelson elementary school, London
• Lord Roberts French immersion elementary school, London
• Prince Charles elementary school, London
• Princess Anne French immersion elementary school, London
• St. George’s elementary school, London
• Sir Wilfrid Laurier secondary school, London
• Montcalm secondary school, London
• McGillivray Central elementary school, Alisa Craig
• Victoria elementary school, London
• Sir Georges Etienne Cartier elementary school, London
• Lord Dorchester secondary school, Dorchester

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