LIMESTONE DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
École Kingston East Elementary School Renaming: Building Understanding

The Limestone District School Board Indigenous Education Team has helped create two videos - one for elementary-aged students, and one for intermediate and secondary students/adults/community members - that provides an overview of Sir John A. Macdonald's legacy and the harms he imposed on Indigenous Peoples. Though Macdonald is certainly a significant figure in Canadian history, we must also acknowledge his role in establishing systems that continue to oppress Indigenous and other marginalized communities including residential schools. Residential schools were a systematic, government-sponsored attempt to assimilate Indigenous Peoples and destroy cultures and languages so that they no longer existed as distinct peoples.

• Student Video
• Community Video

For more information on Sir John A. Macdonald and the residential school system in particular, please visit any of the following resources:

• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
• CBC's Beyond 94
• Orange Shirt Day Organization
• Woodland Cultural Centre
• Project of Heart
• Legacy of Hope Foundation
• Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund

This fact sheet was developed by the Social Healing and Reconciliatory Education (SHARE) group at the Faculty of Education at Queen's University. It has been adapted with permission for LDSB.

The board encourages everyone who would like to suggest names for the school first watch the videos to better understand the reason for the renaming. Next, from November 22 to 26, students, families, staff and community members will be invited to submit their suggestions and rationale for a new name via an online submission process. The Renaming Committee, which includes representation from students, families, staff and community members with a particular emphasis on ensuring the membership includes Indigenous Peoples and voices, will review all submissions and narrow the submissions to a short list.

Stakeholders will then be invited to submit their top three choices from among the short list in early 2022. The Renaming Committee will again review the feedback and select three to five names including rationale to submit to the Board of Trustees for consideration in the spring of 2022. The final choice rests solely with the Board of Trustees.

Trustees of the Limestone District School Board voted unanimously to initiate a renaming process in June 2021. At the time, LDSB Board Chair Suzanne Ruttan said the Board acknowledges the ongoing pain and harm the former name had caused within Indigenous communities. "The Board is committed to selecting a new name that creates a more positive and equitable legacy for the school. This is part of the important work of Truth and Reconciliation."