Student probes $175K school renaming cost

Ishan Acharya, a Grade 10 student in Waterloo, has filed a freedom-of-information request after learning the Waterloo Region District School Board spent more than $175,000 to rename a local high school, according to CTV News Kitchener. The request seeks invoices and records explaining the spending tied to removing Sir John A. Macdonald’s name from the school now known as Laurel Heights Secondary School. The board approved the new name in 2022 after a review launched in 2021. CTV reported the student is questioning whether that spending matched the board’s priorities. ### Which school is at the center of the dispute? Laurel Heights Secondary School, at 650 Laurelwood Drive in Waterloo, was formerly named Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School. The Waterloo Region District School Board formally announced the new name on April 8, 2022, after trustees approved it at a March 21, 2022 committee meeting. The Waterloo Region District School Board said the original legal name had caused pain and harm to Indigenous communities since the school opened in 2004. (ctvnews.ca) The board said the renaming process was part of its response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. ### Why did the board decide to rename it? June 8, 2021 marked a public statement from the board’s Ad Hoc School Naming Review Committee, which said there had been “ongoing pain and harm” associated with the Sir John A. (wrdsb.ca) Macdonald name. The committee said it planned to begin consultation on a new name and to revise board policy so school names would align with reconciliation, human rights and inclusion commitments. November 2021 records show trustees approved a list of schools for renaming identified as high priority, including Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School. A separate WRDSB summary said the review covered school names, mascots and named spaces and drew on publicly available historical, academic and policy material. ### What does the $175,000 figure cover? CTV News Kitchener reported that more than $175,000 was spent on the renaming, prompting Acharya’s request for detailed invoices and the rationale for the expenditure. (wrdsb.ca) The public search snippets available do not break down the full amount line by line, and the board material reviewed here does not list the detailed cost components. The student’s request appears aimed at identifying what portion went to items such as signage, branding, consultation or other administrative work, but that breakdown has not been publicly detailed in the sources reviewed. (wrdsb.ca) That is an inference based on the request for invoices rather than a published accounting from the board. ### What rules govern school renaming in Waterloo Region? WRDSB Administrative Procedure 4865 says school naming and renaming must follow consultation with students, parents, caregivers, staff, local community members and local Indigenous communities. (ctvnews.ca) The procedure says school names should reflect the board’s commitments on Indigenous sovereignty, equity, human rights and inclusion, and says no school names should cause harm to a member of the board community on grounds protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code. The same procedure assigns oversight roles to the director of education, the area superintendent and the principal, and requires a naming or renaming committee when an existing school is to be renamed with board approval. ### Has the board renamed other schools? April 24, 2023 brought two more WRDSB renamings when trustees approved Blue Heron Public School in Cambridge and Hillside Public School in Kitchener. (wrdsb.ca) Those schools had previously been Ryerson Public School and A.R. Kaufman Public School, according to WRDSB materials tied to the same broader naming review. The earlier review identified Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, A.R. Kaufman Public School and Ryerson Public School as schools for renaming. That places the Waterloo high school dispute inside a wider board effort rather than as a one-off decision. ### What happens next? May 14, 2026 is the date CTV News Kitchener said Acharya raised the issue publicly, and the next milestone is the board’s response to his freedom-of-information request. (wrdsb.ca) Acharya said he wants the records so he can examine the invoices and the reasoning behind the more than $175,000 cost. (ctvnews.ca) (wrdsb.ca)