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Board hears community outreach on possible renaming of Caesar Chavez Middle School; public hearing held, no decision
Summary
Consultant VMA reported 647 survey responses and nearly 50 meeting attendees; among respondents answering yes/no about a renaming, about 63% favored renaming and 36% opposed. The board opened and closed a public hearing but did not take a naming vote tonight.
The Lynwood Unified School District board received a report from VMA Communications on June 25 summarizing outreach and community input gathered for a possible renaming of Caesar Chavez Middle School.
Nancy Yang of VMA told the board the district’s outreach included four weeks of community meetings, a five‑week online survey and broadly distributed bilingual materials. “We had about 647 total survey respondents and nearly 50 attendees at in‑person and virtual meetings,” she said.
VMA’s analysis — which the board packet includes in appendices — showed that among survey respondents who chose a clear yes/no answer on renaming, roughly 63% supported renaming the school and about 36% opposed it; respondents in the Caesar Chavez Middle School community (staff, alumni and students) showed higher support, near 80% in VMA’s count. VMA also supplied frequently suggested replacement names and a set of community values that respondents said they wanted reflected in any new name, including local identity, civil‑rights or farmworker themes, and non‑person-based names (examples included Lynwood Middle School, Tauros Middle School and suggestions evoking farmers/farming).
The presentation noted both concerns and questions raised by respondents: the potential cost of a name change, impacts to signage and materials, and the risk that a new person’s name could become controversial in the future. VMA also supplied raw survey tables and meeting notes in packet appendices for board review.
The board opened a public hearing on the renaming and allotted time for public testimony. One speaker urged returning the campus to a previously used middle‑school name and suggested facility changes; after public testimony the board closed the hearing on a 5–0 vote. No action to rename the school was recorded at the meeting.
Board members and the consultant said the packet and appendices are available to the public and that staff will provide any additional requested information; next steps for formal board consideration of a name change were not resolved at tonight’s meeting.
If the board chooses to move from hearing to decision in a future meeting, it will need a formal motion, an opportunity for public comment and any supporting cost estimates or implementation plans for signage and materials.
