Sloan provides update on naming of new Fort St John elementary school

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – At a recent School District 60 Board Meeting, Superintendent Dave Sloan provided an update for school naming.

Sloan says the Board of Trustees is still in the review process for the naming of the new school, adding that the name will reflect the cultural and demographic diversity of Fort St. John.

“We had some further feedback from different parts of the community, that we had to review. So, we don’t have a final announcement tonight but we can say that when the new school name comes forward, the goals will be to recognize cultural and demographic diversity in the community and to observe and follow our established naming protocol.”

Sloan says the naming of schools will not follow older traditions but embrace diversity.

“There seems to be a bit of a tradition in naming schools after “old white guys” but we broke that tradition with the last school and, I think, we’ll likely break that tradition again.”

The Board received a number of name suggestions until the November 30, 2018 deadline.

Some of the names suggested include Anne Roberts Young, Beatton Heights, and Ross H. MacLean.

Since then, the Board has been reviewing the names and will announce the selected name once a decision is made.

The new Elementary School is being constructed from across the Fort St. John Hospital at a cost of $31.3 million. Construction started in 2018 and will be complete by the Fall of 2020.