(Photo: Tim Durkin/Quinte News)
Meyers Creek Secondary is no longer going to be the name of a secondary school in Belleville.
Quinte News has learned that after follow-up research on John Walden Meyers, the man the school would be named after, the Hastings Prince Edward District School Board has learned the man once owned slaves.
Director of Education Mandy Savery Whiteway says a recent Facebook post provided initial insight.
A recent Letter to the Editor also suggests there are numerous sources saying Meyers owned slaves.
Savery Whiteway adds that a Harvard professor also had discussions with the school board.
A former Moira Secondary School student, who wrote a recent Letter to the Editor, claims the Hasting Prince Edward Board renaming committee knew John Meyers owned slaves.
That is in conflict to what Director of Education Mandy Savery Whiteway told Quinte News Monday morning.
Twenty-four year-old old Elissa Robertson penned the letter, which sparked further research on Meyers.
She says she reached out to the public board and asked them point blank if they knew.
Her full chat with Quinte News is below.
The director says this was not information that came forward in their investigation into the name last year.
Meantime, a former mayor of Belleville says he is not sure if they even need to change the name from Moira.
Ross McDougall joined the roundtable on the Lorne Brooker Show.
Further discussion of renaming the school will take place at the upcoming school board meeting on Monday, May 28.
The information above was taken from the HPEDSB agenda for the Operations and Finance Committee
A link to the Operations and Finance Committee agenda is available by CLICKING HERE
Meantime, this coming weekend is the wrap up celebrations for Moira Secondary.
Director of Education Mandy Savery Whiteway chatted with Tim Durkin. The full interview is below.
