EDITORIAL – Board may as well not have asked public about school’s name
(Image: Station One Architects)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
IT WAS NO SURPRISE that the Kamloops school board chose an indigenous name for the new school in Pineview Valley.
For one thing, reconciliation is on everyone’s mind and an indigenous name for the school was part of that thinking. For another, the naming committee included “indigenous rights holders” who were allowed to submit their own proposals in addition to those from the public.
So, the name of the school will be Sníne elementary (pronounced Sneena), which means owl. It was one of five finalists out of 131 suggestions. The others were indigenous names for pine tree and turtle, plus Copperhead elementary and Pineview Valley elementary.
There’s nothing wrong with Sníne elementary, though I would have much preferred honouring a respected educator or other community leader. Senator Len Marchand Sr., a Kamloops resident, MP and the nation’s first indigenous cabinet minister, would have been my choice.
But the process is concerning. Sníne elementary received 196 ‘votes’ out of 1,300 responses, while Pineview Valley got 856. Not even close.
Naming schools based on location is kind of boring but people like it because it’s easy to figure out where they are. So, OK, clearly the board wanted to go in a specific direction from the start.
If it was determined to have a certain type of name, why not just say so, instead of offering other options such as the name of a person?
And if it was going to blatantly ignore input from the public, why ask for it? Why not just make the decision itself, which it did anyway, instead of going through the pretense of seriously considering what the public had to say about it?
“Sníne elementary” certainly isn’t the worst name the school trustees could have picked. It’s short, will be quite easy to remember, not overly difficult to spell, an owl makes a good logo, and it does respond to the focus on reconciliation.
But the process rankles.
I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.
Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
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I simply CANNOT believe this ..I am one of the only ones whom is not prejudiced, but believes if we ALL pay taxes our fair share, THEN AND ONLY THEN can reconciliation begin!
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Naming of a school is such an important issue for a community as well as the students.
lSnine Elementary is a mistake in need of correction, especially for the children.
pat kaatz
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SHOULD HAVE BEEN NAMED PINEVIEW ELEMENTARY AS THAT IS THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH THE SCHOOL IS LOCATED! WHAT ABOUT DEMOCRACY AND CHOICE?? WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?
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I feel that public venues should have easily pronounceable names that don’t require bracketted explanations
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Pineview was (and still is for the neighborhood) THE most inappropriate name as there are mostly Douglas firs in the area and very few pines.
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I thought Pineview was the most appropriate name … it is where it is … but I am in no way surprised that even though Pineview outvoted Sníne (which I’m pretty sure years from now people will write it down as Sneena) 4 to one, the votes of the unwashed mases who actually have to drop their kids off every single day at the school, really should not be given such an onerous and literate task of naming the school … so it leaves two questions;
– how does the board justify the use and subsequent non use of the entire voting process?
– As I don’t live in the region, when it comes up in conversation, will I be excused from calling it ‘Ya … that Elementary school in Pineview … forget what its called”?
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I participated in this survey and from my recollection choose Pineview Valley. What a joke and waste of my time and engagement in our civic process. I would go one step further than what Mel suggested. Asking for public feedback that you intend to ignore is far worse than just telling the public that you’ve already made the decision or limited the choices.
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Agree with Bill Thot. Increasingly “consultation” is mere lip service, with the decision having already been made.
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This was a charade indicative of a feckless board. What’s the point of having trustees if they’re going to ignore the electorate and acquiesce to admin then hide behind the empty words of a spokesperson. This is how you lose trust of the electorate.
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Another pat on the head and a ” we know better ” from our esteemed leaders.
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My submission was “Len Marchand Sr. Elementary”. Mr. Marchand Sr. was educated in the Kamloops Residential school but his understanding of human values did not come from there, it came from his elders where he learned to understand humility, honesty, wisdom, truth and respect all lacking in today’s society. By not naming this school “Len Marchand Sr. Elementary” is a missed opportunity to honour these values.
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The process is only designed to give the illusion of transparency, participation and democracy. Much like what goes on at city hall.
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