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Calexico Unified outlines community-led process to rename Cesar Chavez Elementary
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Summary
Superintendent Arturo Jimenez presented a seven-step, community-driven plan to select a new name for Cesar Chavez Elementary: a delegate committee, student elections, parent recommendations, and a public poll will produce three finalists for the board to consider before the end of the school year.
Superintendent Arturo Jimenez presented a multi-step plan to guide the renaming of Cesar Chavez Elementary, saying the district will center equity, cultural and community significance, and broad public input.
At the board meeting on April 23, Jimenez described a process that begins with a 10-member delegate committee — including two student ambassadors, two parents, the school principal, two staff members, a district office employee, a board member and a district administrator — that will narrow proposed names by majority vote. "Amongst those 10 representatives from the community, they will come up and identify and select one name," Jimenez said, explaining that the committee will meet at Cesar Chavez Elementary with principal Nana Noriega.
Jimenez said the district will also run a separate student voice process: each classroom will nominate a name, grade levels will select among classroom nominations, and a schoolwide student election will produce a candidate name. Parents will participate in facilitated meetings to produce a parent‑recommended name. Those three names — the delegate committee pick, the student pick and the parent pick — will be posted for a community poll open to Calexico Unified residents. "We will then bring the outcomes of that poll to the board of trustees," Jimenez said, noting the board retains final authority to select any one of the three names.
A board member asked whether the process could conclude before the next school year; Jimenez said the district intends to finish the process prior to the last day of school. The superintendent framed the approach as a way to provide a meaningful voice to students, parents and community residents while ensuring the board ultimately makes a decision consistent with district policy.
The next procedural steps: formation and convening of the delegate committee, scheduling the student and parent voting processes, and posting the three finalists for a community poll. The board will receive poll results and consider a final name selection at a future meeting.
The board did not take a final vote on the renaming at the April 23 meeting; the presentation outlined the recommended timeline and decision points leading to a later board action.
