Grand Terrace urges school name change
The Grand Terrace City Council wants the Colton school board to reconsider its decision to name the high school planned here after a longtime Colton resident.
In a letter delivered to the Colton Joint Unified School District on Thursday, the council unanimously expressed "dismay and disappointment over the naming process and the ultimate name selection" for the school.
The council "sincerely and fervently requests" that the school be renamed Grand Terrace High School, the letter says.
The school board voted 5-1 two weeks ago to name the school after retired trustee Ray Abril Jr., who served on the board from 1973 to 2001.
The $82 million campus, on Main Street east of Taylor Street, is due to
open in fall 2011. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled April 4.
The school district conducted a public survey requesting nominations for a name. "Grand Terrace High School" was the overwhelming winner. "Ray Abril High School" came in fourth place.
It was "unconscionable" for the board to ignore "the clear mandate" from Grand Terrace residents who were "a driving force" behind the passage of two bond measures that helped provide money for the high school, the letter states.
The city also assembled prime commercially zoned land for the high school and sold property to the district at "a very fair market value," according to the letter.
Residents also sacrificed two sports fields at a city park for the school, and city staff helped two businesses relocate elsewhere in town so the 67-acre campus could be built, the letter says.
The city also paid for off-site infrastructure improvements needed to build the school, the letter states.
The letter notes Abril made "significant contributions" to the district and perhaps should be honored with a facility named after him in Colton.
Patt Haro, the lone board member to oppose naming the school after Abril, said she would ask her colleagues to revisit the decision.
"I believe firmly that the people should be listened to," Haro said. "I believe Ray Abril should be honored. I respect him immensely. I just don't think this is the venue to do it."
Board member Kent Taylor said he stands by the name.
"I support the decision that was made based on all the input I received from Grand Terrace residents and Colton residents," Taylor said.
Taylor said the naming controversy distracts from the "wonderful accomplishment" of Grand Terrace finally getting its own high school.
stephen.wall@inlandnewspapers.com
The school district conducted a public survey requesting nominations for a name. "Grand Terrace High School" was the overwhelming winner. "Ray Abril High School" came in fourth place.
It was "unconscionable" for the board to ignore "the clear mandate" from Grand Terrace residents who were "a driving force" behind the passage of two bond measures that helped provide money for the high school, the letter states.
The city also assembled prime commercially zoned land for the high school and sold property to the district at "a very fair market value," according to the letter.
Residents also sacrificed two sports fields at a city park for the school, and city staff helped two businesses relocate elsewhere in town so the 67-acre campus could be built, the letter says.
The city also paid for off-site infrastructure improvements needed to build the school, the letter states.
The letter notes Abril made "significant contributions" to the district and perhaps should be honored with a facility named after him in Colton.
Patt Haro, the lone board member to oppose naming the school after Abril, said she would ask her colleagues to revisit the decision.
"I believe firmly that the people should be listened to," Haro said. "I believe Ray Abril should be honored. I respect him immensely. I just don't think this is the venue to do it."
Board member Kent Taylor said he stands by the name.
"I support the decision that was made based on all the input I received from Grand Terrace residents and Colton residents," Taylor said.
Taylor said the naming controversy distracts from the "wonderful accomplishment" of Grand Terrace finally getting its own high school.
stephen.wall@inlandnewspapers.com
The School should be name Grand Terrace High School. This is the right thing to do!
Let Colton Unifed build the school and name it what it wants, even though no one in Grand Terrace agrees. Then Grand Terrace can break away and form its own school district and re-name the school as Grand Terrace High School. That will teach Colton to listen to the will of the people, and Grand Terrace will have a school that someone else payed for.
The high school shouldn't even be in Grand Terrace much less named by its city council. Most of the kids are going to be coming from Colton and South Colton and we DO NOT AGREE WITH THE GRAND TERRACE CITY COUNCIL. Who are you to decide what the school should be named?
MR. ABRIL WAS A GREAT ASSET TO THE SCHOOL BOARD FOR MANY YEARS AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE SOMETHING NAMED AFTER HIM. GRAND TERRACE IS A PART OF THE COLTON SCHOOL DISTRICT BUT I THINK THE SCHOOL SHOULD BE NAMED GRAND TERRACE HIGH, JUST LIKE COLTON HAS "COLTON HIGH" AND BLOOMINGTON HAS "BLOOMINGTON HIGH", THEY ARE ALL IN THE SAME DISTRICT. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE NAME. GIVE THEM IN GT THEIR WAY. IT WILL BE COLTON RESIDENTS ATTENDING THE SCHOOL ANYWAY.
It needs to be called Colton South HS as thats all Grand Terrace will ever be!
I don't even live in the area, but I can see that there is a mix of emotion on this subject. Why not name it Grand Terrace High, and have a Ray Abril Jr. Gymnasium or Football Field, or Auditorium if he meant that much to the community. I think the honor of having something named after you should be gratifying in your efforts to the community no matter the size, or scale of project which carries your name.
In the Colton Joint Unified School District we have two other main high schools, Colton High School and Bloomington High School. The new high school in Grand Terrace should be named Grand Terrace High School. The people of Grand Terrace have supported the school district in every way in order to get this high school built. Mr. Kent Taylor stated that the naming controversy is taking away from the wonderful accomplishments. In my opinion and those of the community, the school board should have listened to the residents and named the school what residents voted on. The school board not only took away the rights of the voter but slapped us all in the fact.
I ACTUALLY AGREE WITH MR FIARGAME, (OR SHOULD IT BE FAIRGAME?!) EITHER WAY I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE AN HONOR TO NAME SOMETHING AFTER MR. ABRIL WHILE HE IS STILL ALIVE TO ENJOY THE HONOR. SO MANY ARE NAMED AFTER THE PERSON HAS ALREADY PASSED. WHAT'S IN A NAME?!?! SO WHAT IS THE NEW SCHOOLS MASCOT GOING TO BE??? DO I SEE ANOTHER ARGUMENT COMING ON?? YEAH YELLOWJACKETS!!
I ACTUALLY AGREE WITH MR FIARGAME, (OR SHOULD IT BE FAIRGAME?!) EITHER WAY I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE AN HONOR TO NAME SOMETHING AFTER MR. ABRIL WHILE HE IS STILL ALIVE TO ENJOY THE HONOR. SO MANY ARE NAMED AFTER THE PERSON HAS ALREADY PASSED. WHAT'S IN A NAME?!?! SO WHAT IS THE NEW SCHOOLS MASCOT GOING TO BE??? DO I SEE ANOTHER ARGUMENT COMING ON?? YEAH YELLOWJACKETS!!
The people spoke, loud and clear! Naming the school after Abril finished in 4th place, overall. What kind of democracy do we have when a few school officials want to offer "tributes" like this to their friends? Rialto did the same thing, with Jerry Eves and Wilma Carter schools. Neither did anything deserving enough to have a landfill named after them, much less a school.
This is corruption at it's finest ! Why was there even a vote, if the outcome meant nothing ?.....IMHO, this decision was made long ago and the vote was a farce. Will this be the first time in history that the first high school in a city wasn't named after the city ? I have lived in the IE for 38 years and I don't know of any..... Fontana,Colton,Redlands,Alta Loma, Corona, Etiwanda.....do I need to continue ? Do the right thing.....name the school after the city !
Who did Kent Taylor talk to in Grand Terrace? He is the worst offender when it comes to not following the will of the people that helped him get elected. He says that WE are detracting from the "wonderful accomplishment" of getting a high school built? He needs to recognize that an entire community can't be expected to roll over while HE and the rest of Abril's yes men go about playing their arrogant political games.
I just wanted to clarify that I meant Mr. Albiso's yes men in the first comment. I apologize for mistakenly using Mr. Abril's name. He does not deserve any negativity towards him. It is a shame that the board's petty politics have put a deserving man in the middle of a controversy that he does not deserve. The overwhelming majority of people in Grand Terrace have voiced support for honoring Mr. Abril in some other way, Ray Abril Stadium perhaps? There has been no negativity aimed at him in any of the gatherings that I have attended. Most feel bad that he has been put in this situation by Mr Albiso and the rest of the board. That said, the new high school should still be named Grand Terrace High. It's obviously the right choice.
I apologize for mistakenly using Mr. Abril's name in the previous post. I meant MR. ALBISO'S yes men. He is at the heart of this. Mr. Abril deserves better than this. He did not do anything to instigate this controversy, but has been unfairly placed in this position by the board. Most people in Grand Terrace embrace the idea of honoring him in some other way. There really is no animosity aimed at him at all. The new high school should simply be named after the city it is in like so many others. Simple, clear, and obvious... at least to reasonable people.
I support the effort of GRAND TERRACE residents to have the name of High School #3 changed to GRAND TERRACE HIGH SCHOOL, as it should have been named in the first place.
We have waited many years for a high school in Grand Terrace, showing our support at meetings, giving our VOTES for funding and now that we finally have one, we, the majority of VOTERS in Grand Terrace, are disregarded, disrespected and downright disgusted at the actions of the school board.
We will be spreading the word to our friends and neighbors to show up at the next school board meeting to once again try and convince the school board to DO THE RIGHT THING and re-name the high school GRAND TERRACE HIGH SCHOOL.
Even residents that do not have children in the school system are rallying behind this movement.
The re-election of school board incumbents will be difficult without the support of GRAND TERRACE voters. There will be many VOTERS that will remember this issue next year at election time. I myself will wholeheartedly support any candidates that show support for this issue, as it is very important to GRAND TERRACE residents that our one and only high school be named GRAND TERRACE HIGH SCHOOL.
Lori Williams
GRAND TERRACE