WRDSB asks community for submissions for renaming Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School

The Waterloo Region District School Board has put out a call for submissions to rename the school formerly known as Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School in Waterloo.

“We invite our entire Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) community to submit a school name, along with why you have chosen that particular name and how the name honours reconciliation,” the board said in a release.

The board made the decision to rename the school due to Macdonald’s involvement in setting up the residential school system in Canada.

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“We acknowledge that since 2004 there has been ongoing pain and harm with the school named for Sir John A. MacDonald,” trustee Kathleen Woodcock stated.

“While we cannot imagine the feelings it must inspire, we understand that this pain is heartfelt and urgent.”

The board says it will accept submissions for new names until the end of January.

The school is one of three in the area that have been chosen to be renamed, with the others being A. R. Kaufman Public School in Kitchener and Ryerson Public School in Cambridge.

All will have names that are not connected to individuals or families, while SJAM’s new name will be “given a name that is meaningful, reflects local historic events and/or places and distinguishing characteristics of the area.”

The board says it will be releasing a short list of potential names that are selected by a renaming committee next month.