DATE: August 9, 2016
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Laurel C. Prysiazny, County Librarian
Stephen Barile, Chairman, Historical Landmarks and Records Advisory Commission
SUBJECT: Centennial Schools
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Approve designation and placement of Burrel Elementary, Reedley High School, Riverdale Elementary School, and Riverdale High School on the County’s Register of Centennial Schools; and
2. Authorize the Chairman to execute the certificates for Centennial Schools.
REPORT
There is no Net County Cost associated with these actions, which will allow Burrel Elementary, Reedley High School, Riverdale Elementary School, and Riverdale High School to be placed on the County’s Register of Centennial Schools. The Historical Landmarks and Records Advisory Commission recommend schools that qualify for placement on the Fresno County’s Register of Centennial Schools. Approval by the Board of Supervisors encourages preservation of the County’s history.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board could choose to not approve these actions, which would result in the schools not being placed on the County’s Register of Centennial Schools at this time.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions.
DISCUSSION:
The Historical Landmarks and Records Advisory Commission, with support from Steve Rosa, Superintendent of Burrel Union Elementary School District; Juan Garza, Superintendent of Kings Canyon Unified School District; and Jeff Percell, Superintendent of Riverdale Joint Unified School District, are recommending your Board approve the applications to add these four schools to the Centennial School Register.
Burrel Elementary
The Burrel Union Elementary School District was organized as a K-8 school district on January 7, 1913 from portions of Caruthers and Summit Lake districts. In 1929, Crescent School District and Burrel District formed Burrel Union School District. Westside School District merged with Burrel in 1938; though sharing a supervising principal for both districts, each district retained their own Board of Trustees. This was a cooperative merger rather than a unification of districts.
Reedley High School
Reedley High School is located in the city of Reedley, CA. The first trustees were elected on June 3, 1898 and the first meeting of the school board was held eight days later. At that time, the name chosen was Alta Joint Union High School District. Classes began that September in an upper floor of the Reedley Grammar School.
On September 6, 1904, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved a name change to Reedley Joint Union High School District. It served high school students from five grammar school districts in Fresno County as follows: Reedley, Fink, River Bend, Riverside, and Wahtoke. In addition, it served the Windsor grammar school district from Tulare County. The high school students first met in the upper floor of the Reedley Grammar School building. By 1903, both the elementary and high school districts were expanding the number of students coming into school. For this reason, the grammar school moved into this facility and the high school district built their own school building at the corner of Reed and Dinuba Avenues. In 1920 the school board purchased ten acres of land on North Avenue and dedicated the new building in 1923.
In January 1965, Reedley Joint Union High School District along with several surrounding districts, voted to form a new school district, the Kings Canyon Joint Union School District and on July 1, 1966, this new district became fully operational.
Riverdale Elementary School
On May 7, 1878, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved the initial formation of the Riverdale School District. The first schoolhouse was on the Silvia Zanalini Ranch located on the corner of Mt. Whitney and Blythe Avenues. The district continued to operate at this location until 1925. In 1926, a bond was passed to build a new school at Stathem Street; a brick schoolhouse composed of an office and five classrooms.
In 1941, Riverdale Joint Union District was formed with the merger of Riverdale Union, Glendora Joint, North Fork Joint, and Crescent Districts. In 1942-1943 Riverdale Grammar School became a grade 1-6 school, with grades 7-8 physically on the high school campus but under the direction of the Grammar School.
Elkhorn School merged with Riverdale Grammar School in 1953. In 1969, the original 1926 brick building was torn down and replaced. In 1995, the Riverdale Joint Union Elementary School District unified with Riverdale Joint Union High School District to form the Riverdale Joint Unified School District. The Riverdale Elementary School is currently serving grades 4-8.
Riverdale High School
The Riverdale Joint Union High School District was formed to educate students in grades 9-12 for five elementary school districts: Elkhorn, Liberty, Crescent, North Fork, and Riverdale. A history of the district published on December 28, 1916 in the Riverdale Observer listed the formation of the district as January 2, 1912.
The students first met at Barritt’s Opera House located at the northwest corner of Malsbary and Henson Streets in Riverdale for the 1912-13 school year. For the next three years, 1913-1916, the students met in the lower floor of the N. Flehjart’s Building at the northwest corner of Malsbary and Dolan Streets. The next school year 1916-17 classes were held in the Odd Fellows’ Hall.
Finally in March of 1917, a permanent school building on Mt. Whitney Ave. was completed. This site continues to serve as the high school campus with the addition of classroom buildings.
The Historical Landmarks and Records Advisory Commission first reviewed the applications during its March 10, 2016 meeting and, during the May 12, 2016 meeting, unanimously voted to recommend that Burrel Elementary, Reedley High School, Riverdale Elementary School, and Riverdale High School be listed on the Fresno County’s Register of Centennial Schools.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
Historical Landmarks and Records Advisory Commission
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Centennial School Certificates
CAO ANALYST:
Samantha Buck