Fresno’s Central Unified school board will consider changing two school names, one mascot
A tense meeting ended late Thursday in Fresno with a Central Unified School District committee formally recommending the that school board consider whether to change the names or logo of three city schools — Houghton-Kearney K-8 School, James K. Polk Elementary, and Madison Elementary School.
The committee stopped short of calling for name changes but said the board should debate whether to rename Houghton-Kearney and Polk Elementary and whether to change Madison’s Native American mascot.
The Central Unified School Board is expected to address the recommendation at its June 28 meeting.
After several months of back-and-forth from each side, the 17-person committee also took the following actions Thursday:
approved criteria for the board to use as an optional guide in that decision
is recommending future naming procedures for board consideration
will provide all community feedback, including input session and public comments, district-provided survey results and a student-organized petition.
Board President Richard Solis, who is on the committee to study names, motioned to send the committee’s recommendations to the school board for a vote.
Those schools stand out when looking at the criteria adopted by the committee, Solis said, because of local community figure Theo Kearney’s racial views and President James K. Polk.
The committee developed criteria to review names, including a person’s background, community involvement, impact on students, and a commitment to education, social justice, or change, then identified school sites and mascots that may need changing in subsequent meetings.
The criteria are not binding but are a guide for board members during their June 28 vote on Houghton-Kearney, Polk, and Madison’s logo.
The committee considered seven schools and two mascots, with the community feeling unheard and unwelcomed at most meetings.
Community speaks out
Community members, parents, students, district employees, and others from across Central Unified called into the public comment session during Thursday’s meeting.
The meeting broke down briefly after several committee members got into a heated argument over whether to extend the meeting’s public comment period, which had only been scheduled to last for 20 minutes, with each speaker allowed a minute and a half to make their comment.
Following a five-minute recess to restore order, most committee committee members agreed to listen to the input of the remaining callers because the meeting was the first time those in favor of a name change felt comfortable enough to speak up, a committee member said.
The comments lasted for over an hour.
Watch the second-half of the meeting, following the recess.
Those in support of the name change said:
Certain names and histories are painful and perpetuate the culture of white supremacy
The community should listen to and support students asking for and provoking change
Namesakes of some schools are derogatory or racist and don’t represent most students
Names should honor and celebrate the contributions of “people who deserve to be on a name of a school”
Those opposed to a name change said:
Spending district funds to change or rename schools wastes money
Alumni would be losing their alma mater
Changing a name is an attempt to erase history or change the past when students can learn from those historical figures
The community survey is over and should be the basis for the committee recommendation
Contested survey results
In a poll intended for Central Unified stakeholders, most of the more than 1,200 respondents said “yes” that seven schools and two mascots being considered should stay the same.
Several community members contested the survey results, criticized how it was distributed to Central Unified families, and said the results were skewed since anyone from the public could take the survey whether they lived within the district or not.
One community member said it wasn’t representative of Central’s students, with many young people saying they didn’t know about the survey until after the fact.
The district shared it through its district-wide communication channels, sent it to students’ emails after concerns that students knew nothing about it, and encouraged feedback through student and administrative leaders at the schools being studied, Superintendent Ketti Davis told the Education Lab in May.
The poll results came nearly a year after a Central student sparked debate over Polk’s ugly, racist history and called for Polk Elementary School to be renamed.
Such community members discussed how “out of touch with reality” the survey results were, especially considering the district is composed of about 85% of people of color.
Solis said he’d learned a lot on the committee from both sides.
“Both sides were heard,” Solis said. “When people tend to attack the process, that means they’ve ran out of ammunition for their opposing view.”
The committee agreed that future schools should not be named after politicians, religious figures or activists because of controversy, a suggestion from committee member Melissa Minor.
The committee also said the district should put a moratorium on any name changes for the next 15 years, an idea put forward by Solis.
Central Unified school board to weigh in later in June
The board will have all the committee’s findings, including resources about school and mascot origins and controversies, survey results, public comments and input and the student-organized petition that sparked the committee’s creation.
The committee agreed at the end of the meeting to include Malachi Suarez’s student petition of more than 3,300 signature, urging the district to rename Polk Elementary. His dad, Gabriel Suarez, a committee member was eventually removed from Thursday’s meeting for being out of order.
During the meeting, the committee also took the survey about maintaining or changing names or logos. Of the members, four voted for their survey results to be made public. Without a majority, the committee member’s results will be kept anonymous.
As someone with a casting vote in the matter, Solis said he looked for a win-win.
“I’m going to take a position that I’m for the kids and the community,” he said.
Solis said those opposed to name changes scored a victory Thursday when most of the district’s schools were not included on the change list. He said name-change supporters also earned a win with the formal recommendation for the board to consider changes to three schools.
“You’re not going to win everything 100%, especially when you’re dealing with the views of a lot of people,” Solis said. “All we can do is try to find a middle ground to stand on and have balance. And I hope that’s what this committee has done today.”
The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.
