The Phoenix Union High School District is changing the name of Cesar Chavez High School. The decision comes after several women accused the late civil rights icon of sexual abuse.
At a special meeting of the governing board Thursday night, Superintendent Thea Andrade said the name change is estimated to cost about $2.3 million.
"The more you looked, the more you realized, ‘oh my gosh, it’s everywhere,'" Andrade said. "We have window wraps in various areas of the school. There’s concrete etched quotes from him on the sides of the school that would need to be sandblasted.”
Other costs include athletic uniforms, gym floors and turf. The governing board changed the name of this year’s holiday to Farmworkers Appreciation Day.
The new temporary name for the high school will maintain the CCHS acronym: Champions Circle High School. The board will consider community input to determine permanent names for both the school and the holiday.
Members of the board and the community brought several suggestions to the meeting Thursday night, like naming the school after Dolores Huerta, another farm workers rights icon, or leaders from local Indigenous communities.
Cher Thomas is a graduate of Cesar Chavez High School and a member of the Gila River Indian Community.
“My tribe has provided much to the Phoenix Union High School District.,” Thomas said. “I feel like this is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the late honorable Mary V. Thomas, the very first female governor of the Gila River Indian Community.”
The district will approach the process in three phases. Andrade said they will first establish a renaming committee, then collect community input and nominations and bring those to a vote. Then the board will then choose a name from the ones that receive the most votes.
Andrade said rebranding will take at least the fall semester, if not the better part of a school year.
