Changing Fresno High’s mascot will cost more than $400,000. Critics pledge to recall

As Fresno Unified moves forward with changing a high school mascot that depicts a Native American caricature, some community members continue to push back against the district’s decision.

At Wednesday night’s regular board meeting, trustees voted 5-1 to purchase new merchandise, including athletic uniforms, banners, gym mats, and signs with Fresno High School’s new logo — an image of Royce Hall, a historic building on the 131-year-old campus.

Trustee Terry Slatic cast the only “no” vote and Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas abstained from voting.

Changing the logo is going to cost FUSD $456,000, district officials reported during the meeting.

Slatic and Jonasson Rosas raised questions about how costly it would be to change the mascot. Although Jonasson Rosas has been supportive of changing the Native American logo, she wanted the district to take a phased-in approach to change the high school’s Warrior logo to cut costs but received no support from the board.

Slatic has been against changing the logo since the year-long debate began in June. He’s not alone.

Dozens of community members and Fresno High School alumni who are with the group Save Our Warrior Image have been speaking out on the issue at board meetings since FUSD started having in-person meetings in March. They pleaded with the board not to erase the more than 100-year-old image and said it’s not a racist symbol but an honor and testament to Native American culture.

Nearly 30 people either submitted a public comment or spoke in front of board members again Wednesday, urging them to reverse their December vote to change the Native American image. Many said the board should be investing that money into academics instead.

“I am embarrassed and ashamed of anyone associated with Fresno Unified who finds it acceptable to waste nearly half a million dollars of taxpayer money on a logo change, especially after the hellish year our students and families just went through,” Alexandria Lenzinger said.

Some also threatened to start recall petitions against board members who voted to spend the money.

“We plan to start running radio ads explaining what you’ve done instead of being transparent.” James Tuck said. “We plan to start recall campaigns on at least three (trustees) if you choose to vote to fund this item.”

Trustee Valerie Davis said the people who have been pushing to keep the Native American mascot should “move on” because although many are Fresno High graduates, it’s no longer their school. She said it belongs to current students, many of whom helped lead the campaign to change the logo.

“It’s their school and they chose the mascot and they want to represent themselves,” Davis said.

However, supporters of the Native American mascot made it clear they aren’t going away. The group filed a lawsuit in May alleging the board violated California’s open meeting laws when they voted late last year to remove the Fresno High Schools.

The lawsuit, filed in Fresno County Superior Court, lists potential violations of the law, known as the Brown Act, in connection with the Dec. 9 vote.

“... the School Board’s vote fails to provide any meaningful information,” the lawsuit says. “The 6-1 vote makes no mention of what the Fresno Warrior will be changed to, how much it will cost to change the Fresno Warrior, who will be paid to change the Fresno Warrior, or any other factual statement. The School Board’s vote fails to answer the who, what, when, where, or why of how changing the Fresno Warrior will work.”

Trustee Claudia Cazares on Wednesday said that there were no Brown Act violations.

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This story was originally published June 17, 2021 at 8:37 AM.