The Near North District School Board (NNDSB) is in the midst of renaming North Bay’s Chippewa Secondary School, and the Chippewa Renaming Committee has been working to shortlist five names for the school. Those names were expected today, but a recent release from the board explains the committee is still working on that.
See: Got an idea to rename Chippewa school?
“The committee worked its way through a top 10 selection process and agreed to meet again before confirming a shortened list of five names,” the board’s release states.
No new names were listed, but the release notes, “Committee members were pleased with the number of suggested names provided by the community via survey.”
Asked when the next meeting will occur to pick those five names, the board did not respond in time for publication.
The decision to rename Chippewa is not popular with some in the community. BayToday conducted a poll in December 2022, 2,456 people responded, and 85.15 per cent voted to keep the present name.
Recently, citizen Stephen Brown launched a petition to keep the name which garnered over 3,000 signatures. This week, Brown presented to the board to state his concerns, particularly that on the online survey the board posted to get name suggestions from the people, the option to keep the Chippewa name wasn’t there.
See: 'Positive' says Brown about reaction to his Chippewa presentation
Today’s board release reads, “The committee is aware of the suggestion to keep the name as Chippewa, acknowledging that many emotions and opinions accompany any school name change. Through discussion, the committee reinforced that the change is not to erase history, but to create a new identity that unites all consolidated school members and reflects values of equity and inclusivity.”
Asked to clarify if Chippewa is still an option or if Brown’s petition or presentation made a difference, NNDSB did not respond.
“Should people stop thinking there's a chance to keep the Chippewa name?” BayToday asked in an email to NNDSB. “Is it time to definitively kill that hope some people have?”
Again, the board did not respond in time for publication.
“Once ready,” the board’s release noted, “the committee looks forward to sharing that list with stakeholders and rightsholders for further consultation and feedback.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
