re: Naming & Renaming

As the Chair of the Policy & Governance Committee, I've received a request to present at next week's meeting. They intend on presenting on a proposal to rename two schools in the district. I've decided to not accept the presentation this time, and this is my email response:

Good afternoon ——,

Thank you for your request to present at the October Policy & Governance meeting. At this time I have decided to not accept your request. The reasons are as follows:

We are undergoing a review/update of the naming and renaming procedures for the entire district, so one-off renaming proposals should be paused until the new procedures are fully in place. The update process has been ongoing since last year, and we are looking to finalise it over the next several months. Once the procedures are in place, the VSB will be systematically looking at schools that need a new name. Since your proposal pertains to one specific renaming suggestion (for two schools), in my view, it will fit better at that later time.
Rather than doing one-off renaming events (as worthy as they are), I’d like Trustees and stakeholders at the upcoming P&G meeting to focus on the bigger picture of the naming and renaming procedures for the entire district.

I would love for you to stay connected with the process as the issue of renaming will for sure come up again and again. If you’d like to connect with me directly via a phone or video call, please let me know and we can find a time to meet. I’ve also CC’d Trustee —— as the Trustee Liaison for —— School so you could stay in the loop that way as well.

Thank you again for writing us, and too for all the work you do as a community leader and advocate.

Best regards,

Lois

For more info on the Naming and Renaming procedures, see these related posts: