ROSITA SCHOOL logo.
By Jim Tortolano
Orange County Tribune
Rosita Elementary School in Santa Ana, a part of the Garden Grove Unified School District, is being considered for re-naming in honor of the Palomino family, participants in the historic Mendez v. Westminster case which helped end racial segregation in California public schools and across the nation.
The GGUSD Board of Education held a study session before the regular meeting of the board on Tuesday. No action was taken, as – according to Superintendent Gabriela Mafi – there’s a policy that outlines the process for renaming a school which includes a community survey and finally, a public hearing.
If the school board finally approves the change, it would be the first one since Lampson Intermediate School was changed to Ralston Intermediate in 1983-4.
The request for the change came from Andrew Palomino, grandson of Frank Palomino and Irene Palomino. They were a party to the Mendez suit, in which Mexican students were segregated into a separate school in not only the Westminster School District but several other Orange County districts.
The plaintiffs prevailed at the state Supreme Court and the case was cited as a precedent in Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954 in which the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed racial segregation in public education nationally.
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