A poll conducted by The Record found that a majority of respondents oppose changing the name of Cesar Chavez High School in Stockton.
The poll followed the Stockton Unified School District Board of Trustees' request for feedback from students, families, staff, alumni and community members on a potential renaming of the school.
The Record's poll closed at 10 a.m. Friday, with 180 votes cast. Results were:
- Yes: 72 votes (40%)
- No: 108 votes (60%)
Cesar Chavez High School, named for labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, opened in 2005. The campus, located at 2929 Windflower Lane, serves students in grades 9-12.
According to the district, renaming the school would cost an estimated $2 million if the new name retains the initials CCHS and about $3 million if different initials are
used.
The funding would come from the district's general fund, its least restrictive source of funding.
The effort to rename the school followed a New York Times investigation published earlier this year in which two women alleged that Chavez sexually abused them when they were minors and raped labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta.
The school district has gathered public feedback on the potential name change through a community survey. The results of that survey will be discussed at the next Stockton Unified School Board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Readers weigh in on changing the name of Stockton's Cesar Chavez High School
