In night of surprises, York school board trustees overrule colleague’s choice for renaming Vaughan school

Thestar.com
Feb. 24, 2021
Olivia Bowden

After facing criticism from multiple community organizations for creating a “divisive” school renaming process, Trustee David Sherman presented the proposed new name for a Vaughan high school: Mary Ann Shadd.

But in a night full of twists, Sherman’s fellow York Region District School Board trustees all opposed his name choice, and instead put forward the name Hodan Nalayeh, which passed.

The committee will now put forward Nalayeh’s name as a recommendation at a Board of Trustees meeting March 2, for final approval, concluding a months-long renaming process.

The name switch came after several trustees vocally opposed Sherman’s choice, and said the name of Shadd, while admirable, blatantly ignores the wants of the community. Shadd was the first Black female newspaper publisher in North America and a groundbreaking anti-slavery activist.

“Mary Ann Shadd is an excellent choice, however, it’s not the people’s choice,” said Trustee Elizabeth Sinclair at the public virtual meeting.

“In this situation Hodan Nalayeh was chosen first, second and third. To me, by going against the people’s choice, it’s like a slap in the face of the Black community,” she said.

The late Nalayeh was a Somali-Canadian journalist who had her own TV show and was well-known for telling positive stories about the Somali diaspora in the Vaughan area.

Sherman has been criticized for weeks by leaders from Black and Jewish community organizations in the area, for questioning the validity of a community survey that he orchestrated that found a plurality of individuals want the school to be named after Nalayeh.

The survey, sent out to community members, parents and students, found that 42.5 per cent were in favour of Nalayeh.

Trustee Bob McRoberts said that it was clear Nalayeh had the most local support, noting that her name appeared 2.3 times as frequently as others in the survey Sherman created.

“If the suggested choice of name is to provide reparation to the Black community, then I believe it should be the name that most of the Black community and others have asked for,” he said.

The high school, formerly called Vaughan Secondary School, is being renamed after Black community organizations campaigned last year to have the name removed, as Benjamin Vaughan was an 18th-century slaveholder. The school is in Vaughan, a city also named after the same man.

At the meeting, Sherman said he picked Shadd to “balance” the needs of communities in the region.

“This is the only name on the list that directly represents somebody who fought against slavery, and counteracts the impact from Benjamin Vaughan,” he said, adding that the name has the “greatest” local support.

After his colleagues slammed his name choice, he said it was unfortunate that they were ignoring the needs of community members and residents, who have contacted him frequently in the last few weeks to express concerns that they do not feel represented.

According to policy from the York board, the trustee for the ward the school is in leads the renaming process. Sherman was tasked with coming up with a shortlist of names, and he decided on the single name to present to the Property Management committee Tuesday night.

The trustee previously alleged that some responses to the survey came from outside the country to unfairly strengthen support for Nalayeh’s name and was not representative of the community’s wants.

While highlighting the survey data at previous public meetings, staff from the school board presented the results as valid and did not note any concerns about where submissions were coming from.

Some of Sherman’s fellow trustees previously told the Star that they stand by the community consultation results and they do not personally see an issue with it.

On Twitter and in statements, Sherman has alleged that the voices of the Jewish community are being ignored and that organizations like the Vaughan African Canadian Association opposed Holocaust survivors being considered.

Shernett Martin, the executive director of association, previously told the Star that his comments are racist and driving a “wedge” between the Black and Jewish communities that did not previously exist. She said in any other context, naming a school after Holocaust survivors would be welcomed --but the survey was in favour of Nalayeh and it was the Black community who campaigned to have the name removed in the first place.

She told the Star Tuesday night that VACA is grateful that the “right decision” was made by the trustees, but the process was hurtful.

“It is not lost on us that the name change was initiated by and advocated by the Black community. It saddens me that David Sherman couldn’t set aside his stubborn biases for the sake of doing what is right,” she said, adding that his actions disenfranchised the community.

Sherman has told the Star that the reason he created a broad community consultation process in the first place is because he wants to ensure all voices are properly represented and that several options are considered.

Prominent members of the Jewish community in the area, including advocate Bernie Farber and Rabbi Micah Streiffer of the Kol Ami synagogue, have voiced their support for Nalayeh’s name.

Farber told the Star Tuesday night it’s “more than clear” that community has picked Nalayeh as the name of choice and that many leaders and advocates within the Jewish community support the Black community.

Other letters to the board from organizations and individuals like Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, the National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations have supported Nalayeh.