Calls to rescind controversial Kingsville school name fall flat at public board meeting
The name Erie Migration Academy caused students 'mortification,' 1 told board
Calls for public school trustees to rescind the controversial name of Kingsville's new school fell flat Tuesday night.
This was the first time the public board in Windsor-Essex met since voting at a February name to adopt the name of Erie Migration Academy, the new regional K-12 school for the town and surrounding area.
The school is set to open in September with an expected student population of around 1,700.
A handful of people, including several current and former students, told the board they are opposed to the name. Tuesday's session saw students and parents formally speak out against it.
"We've done so much with the walkouts," said Emmerson Jadischke, who was one of the students who spoke and who co-organized a student walkout.
"It's disappointing because nothing is happening and we keep speaking out and putting ourselves out there ... and nothing is being done about it."
Among the speakers was Kingsville's deputy mayor Kimberly DeYong, who said she was addressing the board as a former student of Kingsville District High School and as a mother of two current students.
"It seems every smaller community has a school that bears its name and Kingsville is worthy of that too," DeYong said.
WATCH: Petitions, protest over naming of new Kingsville school:
Jadischke, who organized a walkout alongside Kinsey Kendrick, said not reconsidering the name shows "trust has been lost" with the community.
"We have not seen our local trustee be accountable to the people who have voiced concerns," said Jadischke.
They suggested the name Kingsville Lakeside District School to the board.
Board approves motion to review naming policy
Both students told CBC News that after the meeting they felt they weren't heard by the discussion.
"I thought it was shut down rather quickly," Kendrick said. "Anytime a motion [to rescind the name] was brought up it was shutdown immediately."
Following the community discussion portion of the meeting, trustees considered a motion to send its facility naming policy and regulations back to the board's policy committee for review.
It was a motion brought by Trustee Julia Burgess, who chaired the naming committee and put forward Erie Migration Academy as the name for the board's vote.
"School naming has been a hot topic...for at least five years," Burgess said. "We have had to look at it and some concerns have been raised.
"I think we still don't have it right. There's lots that I think are problematic in the implementation. I don't think the regulation particularly served the process well when there were multiple municipalities involved."
Student trustee Colin Pyne requested a motion brought by trustee Nancy Armstrong at the beginning of the meeting for the name to be rescinded. The motion failed, and subsequent ones brought by other trustees were ruled out of order.
The vote to send the policy back to committee was approved by the board with a 5-4 vote of trustees. Both student trustees voted in opposition.
At the end of the meeting, Trustee Linda Qin — another trustee who had called to rescind the name — brought a notice of motion for the board's next meeting to review the name. Board chair Gale Hatfield said she would review the motion.
The name Erie Migration Academy prompted student walkouts and online petitions. Parents told CBC News they didn't like the name — but also distrusted the process by which it was picked.
Burgess had previously told CBC that despite the controversy the name has caused, she doesn't think it will be changed.
"Any kind of motion for reconsideration would be, at this point, I think out of order," she said at the time.
"And since we've adhered to our own policy, our own regulation, it's been open, transparent ... this is it."
With files from Jennifer La Grassa