Public hearing opens on renaming community center for Grace Kojima; committee cites scholarship endowment
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Summary
The board heard a public hearing and renaming committee presentation recommending the Community Educational Center be named for former superintendent Grace Kojima; supporters highlighted her decades of service and an endowment approaching $600,000 for scholarships.
The board held a public hearing March 3 on a proposal to rename a district facility in honor of the late Grace Kojima, a longtime superintendent and community leader.
Multiple speakers—including members of the San Jacinto Women’s Club and residents—described Kojima’s decades of service, program development and community-building, and requested the board consider renaming a designated facility in her honor. A presentation from the renaming committee outlined Kojima’s leadership in constructing and renovating schools, launching multicultural centers and securing major bond funding in the 1990s that funded long-term capital projects in the district.
A speaker representing the Women’s Club announced a scholarship endowment established at the San Diego Foundation in Kojima’s name with roughly $565,000 raised to date and an expected matching donor that would bring the fund toward $600,000. The fund’s purpose is to provide scholarships and incentive awards in perpetuity, the presenter said.
Board members clarified procedure: the public hearing (listening and receipt of comment) was held at this meeting; the formal vote on a renaming resolution was scheduled for a subsequent meeting to allow additional public input and committee review.
What’s next: the renaming committee said a resolution for a vote would be placed on the next meeting agenda to allow broader notice and opportunity for comment.
