École Templeton school name will remain despite students' appeal to reflect reconciliation
Head of school division cites policy as reason why name will not change
Trustees will not change the name of a new school in the Seven Oaks School Division despite an appeal from students.
Students and community members in the division wanted the name for the new kindergarten to Grade 5 French immersion school to reflect its students and their work toward reconciliation.
School board trustees decided to keep the name École Templeton.
The school is being built on Templeton Avenue, near Pipeline Road, in Winnipeg's Leila North neighbourhood.
The division's policy is to name schools after their geographic location, said Brian O'Leary, superintendent of the Seven Oaks School Division.
"It's really a two-decade-old practice," O'Leary said, with West Kildonan Collegiate, Maples Collegiate and Collège Garden City Collegiate all named after their locations.
Last week, about a dozen community members delivered a presentation put together by students in the division — including a video the students made — suggesting the board choose a more meaningful name, and one that incorporates the students' ongoing work toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
O'Leary said he's happy to talk to students about reconciliation and the path forward.
"I think we need the voices of young people speaking up and I would hope this encourages them to continue speaking up," he said.
The division is committed to reconciliation through the school board's language programs, activities, staffing and divisional powwow each year, O'Leary said.
The school division could change the naming policy in the future, he also said.
The new school will open in September 2020.