Now accepting public input on a school name to replace the Meyers Creek Secondary School name

Posted on 05/30/2018

Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board is accepting public input for a name to replace the Meyers Creek Secondary School name (presently Moira Secondary School).

Members of the public are invited to submit name suggestions (http://bit.ly/renameMeyersCreekSS) for the school that will consolidate students from Moira Secondary School and Quinte Secondary School in September 2018. Both Moira and Quinte will close at the end of June 2018 and students from the two schools will come together at the existing Moira site.

A new name, Meyers Creek Secondary School, was approved in January 2018. Recently additional information came to light that caused a change in direction.

"As a learning organization, HPEDSB is responsible for identifying discriminatory practices, systematic barriers and bias from school and classrooms. Our school board is committed to creating welcoming, inclusive, safe and accepting environments for students, employees and the community,"said Mandy Savery-Whiteway, Director of Education.

Background

In June 2017 following a months-long accommodation review of three Belleville secondary schools, the Board of Trustees recommended to close Quinte Secondary School and consolidate the majority of students at Moira Secondary School, with some transferring to Centennial Secondary School. The recommendation included a provision that Moira be rebranded with a new name and logo for September 2018.

In January 2018, the Ministry of Education announced $16.8 million in funding for an addition and renovations at the existing Moira location. With the site confirmed, efforts to integrate the two school communities began. Students and staffs from the two schools and also from elementary feeder schools came together on several occasions to get to know one another and plan for the new school year. Planning for short-term classroom/facility changes is also underway. The renovated school is slated to open in September 2021.

Renaming schools is not new for HPEDSB. The following changes have occurred since 2011 in previous school consolidations where schools have been slated for closure:

In 2011, South Marysburgh Central School closed and consolidated with Athol Central Public School. The school was renamed Athol-South Marysburgh Public School.
In 2011, Bancroft Public School closed and consolidated with North Hastings Senior Elementary School. The school was renamed York River Public School.
In 2013, S.H. Connor Public School and Tweed-Hungerford Senior Public School were consolidated through construction of the new Tweed Elementary School.
In 2013, Stirling Primary School, Stirling Junior Public School and Stirling Senior Public School were consolidated through construction of the new Stirling Public School.
In February 2017, Breadner Elementary School, College Street Public School and Queen Elizabeth Public School (Trenton) were consolidated through construction of the new Trent River Public School.
In March 2018, Earl Prentice Public School closed and consolidated with Marmora Senior Public School. The school was renamed Marmora Public School.

Public input will be open until Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. online at http://bit.ly/renameMeyersCreekSS. Paper copies (Pdf) can be submitted to the Education Centre, 156 Ann Street, Belleville, ON K8N 3L3 by the same date and time, or faxed to 613.962.1048.

The Belleville Integration Committee will follow Administrative Procedure 188: Naming Board Properties http://bit.ly/namingboardproperties (Pdf) which outlines the requirements and states that, "School names and the names of other HPEDSB properties require thoughtful consideration of equity and inclusion, consultation and discussion."

Guiding Principles for the Committee include the following:

a) The committee shall:

i) avoid the duplication of names of school buildings or sites within the jurisdiction of the board;

ii) avoid the use of names of present Board members and employees;

iii) encourage the selection of:
(1) geographic appropriate identifications;
(2) significant names; or
(3) names in conformity with official designation;

iv) consider the names of prominent Canadians of either local or national recognition who have contributed to society in positive, meaningful ways, only following a review of independent research requiring thoughtful consideration of equity and inclusion; and

v) provide supporting rationale for the recommendation.

The intention is for the new name to be finalized by the end of June in time for the 2018-2019 school year. The Belleville Integration Committee will review the public input and come to consensus on a new name to be recommended to the Board of Trustees for consideration in June 2018.

For more information, contact:Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer, 613-966-1170 or 1 800 267-4350, extension 2354, [email protected]