Trustees with the Greater Essex County District School Board are raising questions about the process used in the decision to rebrand Riverside Secondary School.
According to a release posted to the board's website, the team name 'Rebels' along with the mascot 'Captain Rebel' will be no longer used as some believe it to be offensive.
But the decision to make the change was made by administration in isolation without any consultation with trustees or the community.
Trustee Gale Simko-Hatfield says she was under the impression trustees would be part of the process.
"I was told from the highest level that nothing would be done about investigating or examining school names because there was no direction from trustees, that it was the purview of trustees to deal with school names and that it wasn't going to be undertaken."
Trustee Alan Halberstadt says the process could have been handled better.
"Trustees seemed to be basically not consulted at all on this and I'm told that it's because it's an administrative matter. I'm not so sure as I agree with that totally and I would hope that we can straighten this out soon."
He says the board typically seeks public feedback any time a big decision is made.
"I didn't know anything about this whole exercise until a few days ago, and then it's all over the media. But it's a cloud over the school's head right now, as far as I'm concerned, and I think it needs to be addressed soon."
At a committee meeting Tuesday night, trustees were told all Rebel images in the school have been removed or covered up and the board will initiate human rights training for school administrators.
The board says it plans to work with the school community to select a new school name and brand for Riverside.
Plans are also in the works to review all school names and mascots across the entire system in the coming months.