Educators at the first school in the United States to be named after a person of Sikh descent held its ribbon cutting on Thursday in west central Fresno.
Jaswant Singh Khalra Elementary School, on Brawley and Shields Avenues, will be Central Unified School District’s 15th elementary school. It is slated to open its doors to over 600 students in August and will serve students in pre-school to sixth grade.
Khalra was a bank director in the state of Punjab, India. He became a human rights activist after investigating and bringing attention to the disappearances of over 25,000 people and 2,000 police officers after the 1984 Sikh Genocide. After repeated threats, Khalra was kidnapped in 1995 by Punjab police officers and murdered.
“Jaswant Singh Khalra stood up for justice, even when it cost him everything,” said Interim Superintendent Eimear O’Brien.
“Today, his name stands on a school, a place of learning, exploration and purpose, where children will grow not only in knowledge, but in compassion and moral clarity within our greater Fresno area, where our Punjabi and Sikh communities have long been integral to the heart of the valley,” O’Brien added.
The city also renamed a park on Clinton Avenue in west central Fresno after Khalra in 2017.
Over a hundred community members attended the ribbon cutting ceremony, including Khalra’s daughter and wife. His daughter, Navkiran Kaur Khalra, is a Fresno State alumna. Khalra’s attending family was presented with a plaque and key to the elementary school.
Also present were representatives from the offices of Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Adam Schiff, California Sen. Anna Caballero, Assemblymembers Joaquin Arambula and Esmeralda Soria, Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni and Fresno City Councilmembers Miguel Arias, Nelson Esparza, and Annalisa Perea.
The school is built on 10 acres and features two main buildings: a multi-purpose building and a two-story building with a library, classrooms and offices. Guests were invited in after the ribbon cutting to walk the halls of the new school.
Naindeep Singh Chann, president of the Central Unified Board of Trustees, said he was grateful for the turnout by the community and explained that part of what makes CUSD and Fresno special are the immigrants who work in the community, noting that district staff include immigrants from Ireland, Mexico and Bangladesh.
“In a moment in time where immigrants are being threatened by the administration in Washington, D.C., in Fresno, we’re showing that we can do something different by embracing all people,” Singh said.
Raul Diaz, who will serve as the principal for Jaswant Singh Khalra Elementary School, said he was honored and excited to serve as the founding principal of the school.
“Let today be a reminder of what we can achieve when we believe in each other,” Diaz said, adding, “let this building stand not just as a place of education, but a beacon of equity, inclusion and courage.”
