Research vessel Sir David Attenborough would have been called Boaty McBoatface if the internet had had its way. Some responded to a Central Okanagan school district online survey suggesting the name of the new middle school should be Schooly McSchoolface.
Image Credit: BBC.com
October 18, 2017 - 3:00 PM
KELOWNA - Despite their best efforts, those who want to name Kelowna’s next middle school Schooly McSchoolface are unlikely to see it happen.
Secretary-treasurer Larry Paul said the Central Okanagan school board will decide tonight, Oct. 18, how to proceed with naming the school, either selecting from the submissions made to an online survey or perhaps coming up with a new way to choose a name.
“School board policy is to name new schools after historical figures or a geographic area,” Paul said. A lot of people responded with Father Pandosy and W.A.C. Bennett middle school, Myra Canyon and Crawford Falls middle school. Some also responded with Schooly McSchoolface. It’s people having fun with names but it’s not even original.”
The nonsensical name follows the case, now repeated around the world, when the British government in 2016 invited citizens to help name a new research ship. The overwhelming favourite turned out to be Boaty McBoatface and embarrassed officials had to backtrack on their promise to let the people decide.
“That’s just bad planning, saying whatever the popular vote is, we will go with it,” Paul said. “You still have to put some parameters around it.”
Whatever the final name is, Paul said the school district is pushing an “aggressive timeline” to get the $36-million school open for September 2019.
Plans for the new 700-student school are almost complete and the district hopes to have a development permit from the City of Kelowna in time to put the project to tender by December.
“We want to have shovels in the ground as quickly as possible,” Paul said.
The new school will be built on a site in the South Ridge area and the preliminary designs will be made public during an open house on Monday, October 23 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the multi-purpose room of Okanagan Mission secondary school.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017