Trustees to decide on Davin School name controversy

The Regina public school board is looking at renaming Davin School, calling it The Crescents School.

The new name is one possibility trustees will be asked to consider at their regular meeting Tuesday night.

The other option is more or less the status quo leave the Davin name alone, but recognize the controversial legacy.

Namesake played role in residential schools

The school, which opened in 1929,is named after Nicholas Flood Davin.

He's the journalist and politician who wrote an influential 1879 report that played a role in the creation of residential schools.

The schools were operated throughout the19th and 20thcenturies by churches under the supervision of the federal government. Studentssuffered a loss of language and culture. Somewere physically or sexually abused.

In recent years, some community groups have been urging the school board to scrap the name.

The Crescents is the neighbourhood the school is located in.

The school board is also looking at adding a plaque to explain some of the history. One thing that's not under consideration is removing the DavinSchool name from the masonry of the building.

The school board launchedan online survey last November to ask the public if the Davin name should be scrapped. However, the results were inconclusive, with roughly half wanting the keep the name.