Davis moves forward to rename César Chavez Elementary amidst allegations

Article by Alyssa Hwang

At the April 2 Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) school board meeting, board members discussed a response to recent findings by The New York Times about United Farm Workers (UFW) co-founder César Chavez. 

According to the Times’ investigative report, Chavez allegedly raped fellow labor unionist and former UFW vice president Dolores Huerta, and sexually assaulted multiple underage girls during his lifetime. 

Board vice president Lea Darrah moved to rescind a prior resolution acknowledging César Chavez Day, passing unanimously.

For the Davis community, the question surrounded whether and how to rename César Chavez Elementary.

Katie Dooley-Hedrick and Dina Owens spoke on behalf of the Chavez Spanish Immersion Parents and Teachers, supporting the renaming discussion and calling upon the district to outline resources for school staff to navigate changes with students.

Owens requested that teachers receive curricula and talking points to address Chavez’s actions with students.

“We don’t know what’s appropriate to say to kindergarteners versus sixth graders,” Owens said. “Kids are talking, and we want to know what the right things to say to them are.”

The DJUSD policy for renaming district facilities requires that a naming committee be formed as either a small committee comprising five members appointed by each Board member, or a larger representative committee formed by the superintendent with community recommendations.

After discussing naming committee and name options, the Board landed on initiating the process to form a larger representative committee with involvement from the Chavez Elementary community, but left name options open until the committee is formed.

“(I’m) hoping to see them move quickly to get a committee appointed,” Dooley-Hedrick said. “We hope to see really strong representation from our community.” 

Board members aim to finalize the name change by the end of the school year and to implement system changes over the summer.

The Board’s policy subcommittee, headed by Darrah and trustee Elizabeth Moon, will meet to potentially expand the renaming policy and present information to the Board at the April 16 meeting.