After 20 years, the Northern Lights School Division could be getting a makeover. As the division logo goes out to the public for consultation, the board of trustees is also discussing the possibility of changing the name.
After 20 years, the Northern Lights School Division could be getting a makeover.
As the division logo goes out to the public for consultation, the board of trustees is also discussing the possibility of changing the name.
"If we're doing a rebranding of the cresting, why aren't we putting the word public? It's become more common around the province and the identification between the separate and public school system has always been there so it's just a matter of saying we're the public school system," said trustee Rod Soholt, adding that both the francophone and separate school systems both use their differentiating titles in their names.
During their Feb. 23 board meeting, trustees decided to seek input on their logo change. After recently redesigning their logo to celebrate the 20th anniversary of NLSD, it was decided that the two options would be keeping with the old logo, which features a depiction of the northern lights with the division's full name written inside, or continuing to use the anniversary logo but with the '20 Years' removed. The logo consultation will also feature different colour options.
Trustees also debated whether or not they should entertain the idea of changing the division's name to Northern Lights Public Schools. If so, should it go out for consultation was another part of discussion amongst the board.
"We might only be around for another year and a half. We're making decisions that impact everyone, we have to go to the public because, in the end, they're the ones that are left with it," said trustee Gary Kissel.
While the name change would see rebranding across division from signs, to the website and emails, to notepads and letterheads, it wouldn't be a legal name change. With that in mind, trustees were divided whether or not it's necessary to consult the public when it comes to the name.
"We're not going through a legal name change, we are already considered a public school board by the government, we are just articulating what we are," said board chair Arlene Hrynyk. "This is an alignment of what we said we want to do provincially. In the work plan through ASBA (Alberta School Board Association), we talked about differentiating between publicly funded and public education."
Trustee Maurice Richard noted that it's more about consistency, "If we're going to go out to the public for a logo, shouldn't we also go to the public for a name change, which is much bigger? I very much like the idea, but if we're doing one thing one way we should do them both that way, otherwise we're putting ourselves in jeopardy."
Initially, the discussion was to put the name out for consultation at the same time as the logo but, administration felt that was too much at once.
"It can become convoluted if we're doing it at the same time for our stakeholders. Some staff might be very tied to the logo and some tied to the name. I don't know if doing it at the same time is a good idea, it might cause some angst," advised superintendent Rick Cusson.
Ultimately, the board of trustees voted in favour of tabling their conversation about a name change until the next board meeting when they could also receive some more information about what's involved in the process. The division's logo consultation began on Monday. Anyone interested in providing feedback can do so by completing the survey found at http://goo.gl/forms/Ta81tzQEOk
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