Kamloops trustees settle on Beattie name

Apr 5, 2016 | 9:14 AM

KAMLOOPS — The Kamloops-Thompson Board of Trustees has reversed course, settling on Beattie Elementary as the name of the school on McGill Road.

Trustees had earlier agreed to rename the school McGill Elementary at the behest of parents, students, and staff at Stuart Wood Elementary, the community that will relocate to Beattie next fall.

But Board Chair Denise Harper says a student presentation to the board brought home the historical significance of the Beattie sisters in Kamloops’ educational system.

“When we saw that the students had featured the significance of the Beattie sisters to the school district’s historical story, trustees took a second look at the whole question of renaming the school,” said Harper.

She adds the board has now struck a committee to establish a policy for renaming buildings – a policy that will take into account the history of the buildings and their previous names.

“We have to take a step back,” said Harper.

“For example, we have George Hilliard on Holt Street. It remains the George Hilliard building, but it presently houses Four Directions [Secondary School] and [Twin Rivers Education Centre]. How do we continue to honour the name of George Hilliard… and still give the students who are presently attending under a different program that pride of ownership? It’s a bit of a conundrum.”