LDSB opens renaming survey for École Kingston East Elementary School
At a regular board meeting for the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) on Jun. 16, 2021, a motion was passed to initiate a renaming process for École Sir John A. Macdonald Public School. A complementary motion was passed to call the school by its original name, Kingston East Elementary School, for an interim period. Now, the school board is asking for public input on new names for the elementary school.
École Kingston East Elementary School (ÉKEES), located St. Martha Street in Kingston’s east end, opened in 2013 and now educates students from Kindergarten to Grade 6, offering both English and French Immersion programming.
LDSB is inviting members of the ÉKEES school community, and community members, to provide name suggestions and an accompanying rationale for their choice via an online survey that is open until Friday, Nov. 26, 2021.
“Those who wish to suggest names are encouraged to review videos and other resources to help build understanding on why the former name was harmful, why it was removed, and how to move forward to uphold our commitment to truth and reconciliation, and ensure we are creating safe spaces for everyone,” LDSB said in a media release.
The Renaming Committee, which includes representation from students, families, staff and community members with a particular emphasis on ensuring the membership includes Indigenous Peoples and voices, will review all submissions and narrow the submissions to a short list, according to the release.
LDSB said that stakeholders will then be invited to submit their top three choices from among the short list in early 2022. The Renaming Committee will again review the feedback and select three to five names including rationale to submit to the Board of Trustees for consideration in the spring of 2022. The final choice rests solely with the Board of Trustees.
Those interested in understanding more about the renaming process may also wish to review Administrative Procedure 552: Naming/Renaming of Schools for further information. For more information about the renaming process, please visit the ÉKEES website.