More than three months after a national publication reported the late labor leader Cesar Chavez sexually abused women and minors, the Cesar E. Chavez Learning Academies (CCLA) in San Fernando has officially been renamed Arroyo High School.
Currently, the campus exterior still bears the CCLA name, but the process of changing the school signage is expected to begin this summer. School administrators recently posted the new name – a reference to the street where the campus is located, Arroyo Avenue – on the school website.
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board members voted to rename two LAUSD schools – CCLA and Cesar Chavez Elementary in El Sereno – after the Chavez news broke in March. In April, school officials asked the CCLA community and local residents, employees and business owners to weigh in on the name change by sharing name suggestions and voting for the three finalists: Valley High School, Rudy Acuña High and the eventual winner, Arroyo High.
The decision to change the school names was one of multiple swift and significant actions taken by city, county and state officials after the Chavez allegations were first reported on March 17.
Locally, the bronze memorial statue of Chavez located near the corner of Wolfskill and Truman streets in San Fernando was taken down just two days later. The accompanying 100-foot-long mural, which also bears Chavez’s likeness and honors the farmworker movement, was initially covered and fenced off, but currently remains uncovered and has been vandalized with paint.
Back in March, members of the San Fernando City Council discussed contacting the artist who painted the mural about potentially altering it, but no plan has been revealed to date.
In addition, the 33rd annual Cesar Chavez March for Justice was canceled. The march, believed to be the first march organized to honor Chavez following his death in 1993, was later rescheduled and rebranded as Monarchs for Justice, to focus on the impact of immigration raids.
In other changes, LAUSD now recognizes March 31 as Farm Workers Day instead of Cesar Chavez Day. Similar proclamations were made by the San Fernando City Council, LA Mayor Karen Bass, the LA County Board of Supervisors and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Transitioning to Arroyo High
LAUSD’s Board of Education formally approved “Arroyo” as the new school name last month. The school houses four independent high schools – which were previously referred to as “learning academies” – on a single campus.
The district will change the physical signage and logos across campus to reflect the school’s new name and identity, including on the front of the school, the gymnasium and other campus facilities, but didn’t provide a timeline for completion.
School officials have also ordered new athletic uniforms to ensure that Arroyo High students “are outfitted appropriately.”
“We want to be transparent with our community that a transition of this scope takes time to do thoroughly and correctly,” said LAUSD spokesperson Thomas Cohen in a statement.
“Work began less than a month ago,” the statement continued. “We are committed to completing every element of the name change in a way that reflects the pride and identity of our school community. We will continue to provide updates as this process moves forward.”