Following months of community input and two board meetings dedicated to the issue, the Bakersfield City School District (BCSD) board members voted unanimously on Tuesday to rename Cesar E. Chavez Elementary School to Helen F. Chavez Elementary School.

Their decision followed continued discussion among themselves about how best to preserve the school’s connection to Kern County’s farmworker history. The board members emphasized that while opinions differed throughout the process, they shared a common goal of honoring the legacy of the farmworker movement.

“I believe that the board should be considering something that did honor and does honor the farmworker history that the original decision made,” Trustee Anthony Fuentes said. “Our job, I believe, is to rename this school, not to change the spirit of that school.”

Trustee Mark Eggert reiterated his long-held belief that schools should not be named after individuals, regardless of the circumstances.

Eggert also noted that district officials had received a letter from the United Farmworkers (UFW) stating that the phrase “Sí Se Puede” is a registered trademark and could be used as the school name without obtaining a license.

Trustee Doctor Chris Cruz Boone defended the board’s deliberation process, saying trustees had spent months listening to residents and weighing community feedback.

“I’ve been so transformed by this process, I think more than any other vote I’ve ever had,” Cruz said. “I felt very frustrated by the implication that I wasn’t listening because I didn’t say what I really wanted—not a single darn time. Instead, I listened to what people wanted and was trying to be responsive to that.”

Cruz Boone said she ultimately supported naming the school after Helen F. Chavez because it preserved the Chavez name while recognizing a woman whose contributions to the farmworker movement have often been overshadowed.

“I want to name our school after a matriarch of the movement, of the farmworkers,” she said. “Moments like this are why I’ve wanted to serve on this board, and I’m so proud we’re having this conversation tonight.”

Trustee Doctor Brooke Malley Ault echoed those sentiments, noting that only two of the district’s 44 schools are named after Latinos despite a student population that is approximately 82% Hispanic.

“Getting rid of one of them in a district of 82% Hispanic, to me, that’s not something that I’m willing to do,”  Malley Ault said.

Malley Ault also outlined Helen F. Chavez’s accomplishments, describing her as a farmworker, community leader, mother of eight and longtime manager of the Farm Worker Credit Union, where she helped provide agricultural workers access to financial services and economic opportunities.

“Helen F. Chavez’s legacy stands on its own, and she is so much more than somebody’s wife,” she said. “She was a farmworker, a community leader, a financial advocate and a champion for working families whose impact continues to be felt generations later.”

Although trustees ultimately agreed on the new name, several acknowledged shortcomings in the renaming process.

Trustee Laura Guerrero-Salgado said the board should revisit its policy so that future renaming efforts more closely reflect recommendations from community naming committees.

“I think that the next time the board has to change the name of any school, there should be at least one name that comes from community input and at least one name from the renaming committee,” she said.

Before the final vote, Eggert attempted to substitute Mesa Marin Elementary School as the new name, consistent with his preference for naming schools after places rather than people. The substitute motion failed 4-1, with Eggert casting the lone vote in support.

The board then returned to the original motion to rename the campus Helen F. Chavez Elementary School.

Although Eggert maintained his opposition to naming schools after individuals, he said he respected the board’s decision and the importance of remaining unified.

“I’ve made my opinion known. I still stand with my opinion,” Eggert said. “But I am also aware of the importance of us being united as a board.”

The board then voted 5-0 to approve the new name, officially renaming the campus Helen F. Chavez Elementary School.