Petition organizer Steve Brown will address the Near North Board trustees this evening at 6:30 hoping some compromise can be reached regarding efforts to drop the name of Chippewa Secondary School.
And he's hoping to get people to come out and show support for his efforts.
"I'm just hoping the Board's mind isn't already made up," he told BayToday.
See related: School Board not budging over plan to rename Chippewa
See the agenda here.
The cost alone just to do a name change should cause people to re-examine the action. Brown says he's been told it will cost over $150,000 just to sand the logo off the gym floor, then there's all the office supplies, the rebranding, paying for the design of a new logo, "and after half a million dollars, you have what?"
The Board has never made public any estimate of the costs, although a staff report authored by Superintendent Gay Smylie puts just the cost of school sports uniforms at almost $54,000.
"The school has put together a list of the School Uniform Costs for the Intermediate and Secondary Sports Teams. The preliminary cost estimate totals $53,800," says the report.
"In considering rebranding and renaming, below is a list of items that will need to be addressed and replaced at the school," it explains. "This is not an exhaustive list, but a starting point as they consider what it would take to become a new school space.
- Team uniforms for sports
- T-shirts and vests for music - approximately 200 vests and 50 t-shirts
- Exterior signage including the sign at the corner of Chippewa and High Street
- Letterhead
- New mascot uniform or costume once a mascot is chosen
- New maps at the entryways
- Removal of Raiders and the Thunderbird logo on the gym floor
"At the end of the day I hope they see the masses are clear, and they are elected officials that aren't listening to their community," adds Brown. "They are taking away a piece of our history that we don't want to disappear."
Brown calls the support he's received to keep the name Chippewa "overwhelming."
"I've never seen anything like it. There hasn't been anybody who agrees with the change."
Almost 2.900 have signed the petition asking the Board to keep the name.
"To me, that many people signing the petition says we don't want the name changed.
"The school board is supposed to help educate people, not erase history. Changing the name isn't going to change racism. Why she's (Board Chair Lougheed) is on that route is beyond me, I don't understand the reasoning, and the head of the school, (Principal Krista Tucker Petrick) isn't even from North Bay."
Brown believes there is room for a compromise, like keeping the name but changing the mascot or dropping the Raiders moniker.
He feels Lougheed is fixated on the Chippewa name change in "an epic way" and it's going to be a costly thing.
"It doesn't make any sense, that's the bottom line. I'm hoping she'll listen to the wishes of people who supported her, not just her own agenda."
Brown says this whole experience has left him extremely frustrated. "It's hurtful in a lot of ways. It's just not right."
Brown admits to being nervous about speaking in front of large groups, "but we'll see what happens. We're all allowed to have an opinion and still shake hands at the end of the day."
Brown says he welcomes public input at [email protected].
The meeting takes place at 6:30 at the Board office at 963 Airport Rd.
You can also watch it live on Zoom here.
