UPDATE

Please see email below from YRDSB clearly stating community choice was Nashville PS and there was a campaign outside of community for Tanya Khan PS as the name of the school.

“Do you think this such manipulation is ethical ? 
our Trustee an make this right and change this decision, but he continues to ignore his constituents voices”.

 

 

 

 

We, representing a significant number of residents in the New Kleinburg Community, are reaching out to request your support in urging the York Region District School Board (YRDSB) to revisit its decision to name the local primary school, situated at the intersection of Nashville Road and Huntington Road.

 

Serious questions have arisen, regarding the integrity, transparency, and level of community consultation, surrounding this decision.

We believe it is imperative the YRDSB hold a new vote, exclusively within our local community, due to profound concerns surrounding the process and decision-making employed by the YRDSB and its Trustee in reaching the final decision.

Despite YRDSB policies explicitly requiring involvement of the local affected community, a significant number of residents in the community were not made aware of the vote to choose the school’s name. Furthermore, evidence gathered clearly indicates a substantial number of poll responses may have potentially originated from residents living outside of the New Kleinburg community. Despite repeated requests for clarity from Trustee, he has responded to only one resident email, in which he purports that 80% of voters showed support for the final name. However, due to the following reasons, we believe this data may be faulty.

Please check the Updates section as we have received reply and we have sent counter-questions. 

1. Integrity of the Poll: Evidence suggests a concerted effort by Campaign outside of community actively promoting and advocating for the name “Tanya Khan Public School” through social media. Such examples include, but are not limited to, a LinkedIn post asking professional network to support naming the school, as well as TikTok, Youtube, and Facebook posts by an individual not affiliated with the local community sharing the link to the poll with their followers. These examples raise doubts about whether the purported 80% support for this particular name was within the affected community or from individuals outside of it.

We, as a community want to clarify that our petition is solely focused on challenging the process of naming the school and not intended to question the legacy of Mrs. Khan’s work as well as integrity and reputation of her family and acquaintances.

2. Deceptive and/or Misleading Communication: In early March, YRDSB held a town hall for residents in the New Kleinburg Community to share details on the new school, including opening dates, amenities, administration and other information. During the presentation, Trustee Mahmood indicated that the name of the school had not yet been decided. This information was also captured in the accompanying PowerPoint presentation. However, publicly available information from the February 2024 YRDSB board meeting indicates that Trustee had already submitted Tanya Khan Public School as the chosen name to the board. This clearly shows that Trustee Mahmood was deceptive in his interactions with the local community and implies he may have known that the preferred name among the community was Nashville Public School and did not want to address resident concerns or confrontations at the Town Hall.

Our community is comprised of a wide range of different ethnicities, ages, genders, and beliefs. We believe a fair, inclusive, equitable, and representative decision-making process is in our community’s interest, as well as for all communities in Ontario. Local community decisions should not be usurped or unduly influenced by outside individuals using social media platforms or coordinated grassroots campaigns to overrule the choices of the directly affected community. Such influences undermine the foundational principles of our local community’s public institutions.

Despite our persistent efforts to engage with Trustee Mahmood and express concerns, we have received no acknowledgment from him or the York Region District School Board. We urge the board to reconsider its decision and implement an equitable voting process that respects, includes and prioritizes the voices of the local community. Please join us by signing this petition to prompt the board to grant a new vote exclusively for the local community. Let’s ensure that our new school’s name reflects the community’s choice, essence, and values.

Sincerely,

Residents of the New Kleinburg Community