WINDSOR — A trustee with the Greater Essex District School Board is weighing in on the name for the new Mercer St. school.
A decision is expected to be made Tuesday night and Sarah Cipkar would like to see the board pay homage to James L. Dunn.
In addition to being Windsor's first black school board trustee, Dunn also fought to abolish segregation in city schools.
Cipkar also sat on the board's naming committee and says the Dunn name means a lot to the neighbourhood and would be a perfect fit for the school.
"Where the school is going to be located is a very historic neighbourhood, especially for the black Canadian community," she says. "Ultimately, those community members still feel really strongly about that name. So they've been doing a lot of advocacy and mobilizing just to let the trustees know how important it is."
Of the options submitted, Cipkar believes the Dunn name makes the most sense.
"It is the only name on the list that represents a historical figure and not only just any figure, one that's been really, really influential in our community."
She says it presents an opportunity to educate students as well.
"I'm excited that the community members have been advocating for it so strongly. While I do think that the conceptual names are really good and there's merit to them, I just really feel compelled with looking at the life of James L. Dunn and just thinking, "That's a good name for a school and the values that our board represents."
Trustees have four possible names to pick from — James L. Dunn Public School, Ambassador Public School, Ensemble Public School and Heritage Public School.
The new $15.4-million school is being built around the historic International Playing Card Factory on Mercer St. and is expected to be open by January 2021.
—With files from AM800's Rob Hindi