Cedar community input will be sought in the naming of a soon-to-be opened elementary school.
The Nanaimo school board approved a motion at its Oct. 22 regular meeting that will follow the school district’s procedure related to the naming of new school facilities.
The board chairperson will name a committee of two school trustees that will seek input on the name.
A list of names will be compiled and the school board will make a final selection, which will be revealed at a public school board meeting.
The elementary school is not a new school per se, but rather the converted Cedar Community Secondary School that was closed last June as part of the district’s 10-year facilities plan. It will be comprised of staff and students currently at the Woodbank Primary and North Cedar Elementary schools which will close at the end of this June.
The elementary school in Cedar is slated to open next September.
Trustee Kim Howland said the community should still have input on whether to rename or go with a Cedar elementary name option.
“I think it is an opportunity for us to allow the community to have their say and input in regards to what that school’s going to be called,” said Howland. “Even though it’s not a new school, it will be respectfully, a new elementary school, so I’d like to see us actually move forward with this policy [and] procedure.”
Ultimately, the decision of the school name will be in the hands of the incoming school board as new trustees will be elected in the Nov. 15 civic election.
“There’s little time for us to do this and if it’s going to be done, it should be done well and with full consultation,” said trustee Jamie Brennan.
The school board also approved a motion asking staff to consider conducting a pilot study on the effect of school closures on student achievement in the Cedar area.
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