Students disappointed after Delano school board votes to keep honoring César Chávez

LOUD For Tomorrow, a grassroots youth-led organization based in Delano, California, is calling out the Delano Joint Union High School District’s decision and expressing deep disappointment over the Board of Trustees’ vote to rename César E. Chávez High School to Chávez Collegiate High School.

In early March, the sexual abuse and misconduct allegations against the activist and labor leader first became public. That same month, LOUD For Tomorrow launched its campaign to rename the school as students began speaking out about the accusations, with some saying they felt “disgusted” as the activist still remained the face of schools, streets and parks in their community.

The organization created a petition, which received more than 200 signatures on its first day. Since then, the petition has grown to more than 600 signatures. LOUD For Tomorrow then took the petition to the Board of Trustees, where members spoke directly to the board and submitted public comments in support of the proposed name change that reflects the students.

Unfortunately, the Board’s decision did not honor that request. “It falls short of the values our community holds and the standard our students set,” shared the organization in a statement.

Several schools across California are named after César Chávez, including schools in Kern, Yolo, Orange, Los Angeles and Nevada counties. However, Delano is not the first community to consider renaming a school that bears his name.

About 35 miles from Delano, Bakersfield city officials had also announced on March 18 that they would not move forward with plans to rename one of the city’s streets after labor leader César Chávez.

But for Delano students, that wasn’t the case. From the beginning of the campaign, students, faculty and community members made it clear that they did not want their school associated with the activist. 

“Keeping ‘Chávez’ in the name, while stripping away everything except the surname, does not resolve that concern,” said LOUD For Tomorrow. “Our young people asked the district to move beyond, and it asks survivors to keep seeing that name on their diplomas, their jerseys and their campus every day.”

The organization shared that for months, the district told the Delano community that the choice was limited to ten names drawn from the school’s 2002 survey, which included Mountain View, El Dorado, Millennium, Memorial, International, South Delano, Century, Unity, Harvest and Freedom. 

The district’s own Committee reviewed those options and recommended Unity High School as the name that best reflected the identity of students, faculty and staff. According to LOUD For Tomorrow, Chávez Collegiate High School was not on the list that was showcased to them, and the community never had the chance to weigh in on the decision.

The community of Delano was constantly told that a $100,000 fee was tied to the original land purchase agreement for the reason for choosing a name outside the approved list. Despite paying the fee, the district invented a name that still honors Chávez.

“If preserving the CCHS initials was truly the goal, that could have been achieved without honoring César Chávez at all. The community was told the constraints were about cost and initials. The district's own actions show the priority was keeping the name,” said the organization.

They also shared that it was never about erasing the history of Chicanos or of the farmworker movement. 

“That history is ours, and we carry it with pride. It was about refusing to let a name that dishonors survivors stand over the heads of the next generation, and about choosing someone who represents our community in a good light,” they said.

LOUD For Tomorrow said it will continue advocating for its peers and calling on the Delano Joint Union High School District to revisit the decision. “This change would honor and validate the experiences of those who have suffered and survived, ensuring that they know the community stands with them.”