Waterloo high school's name to change to Laurel Heights Secondary

The Waterloo high schoolon Laurelwood Drive has a new name.

Laurel Heights Secondary School will be the new name for the school, which was previously named for Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald.

The decision on the name change was made Monday by trustees at the Waterloo Region District School Board's committee of the whole meeting. That means the decision must be ratified at the monthly board meeting on March 28before it is official.

The school board announced in June 2021 that the school would be renamed.

There has been a move in recent years to rename buildings or remove statues of Macdonald, including in Baden, because Macdonald established the residential school system, which saw Indigenous children removed from their families.

"We also acknowledge that since 2004 there has been ongoing pain and harm with the school named for Sir John A. Macdonald. While we cannot imagine the feelings it must inspire, we understand that this pain is heartfelt and urgent," said astatement from the school board in June 2021.

The school community voted on five potential school names, drawn from nearly500 community suggestions.

The ad hoc school naming review committeeis working on a new policy for the boardabout school names and that will include reviewing all the current school names.

Along with the Waterloo high school, other local schools are also slated for name changes. One is a school namedforindustrialist A.R. Kaufman, an advocateof eugenicsand the other is named for Egerton Ryerson, considered one of the primary architects of the residential school system.