On August 5, Fontana Unified School District held a powerful and emotional renaming ceremony, officially changing the name of Randall Pepper Elementary School to O’Day Short Elementary School, honoring a Black family whose lives were stolen in one of Fontana’s darkest chapters.
The renaming marks a historic shift for the district as it prepares to welcome more than 30,000 students back for the 2025-26 school year on August 6. For the first time, the school will open under a name that acknowledges and honors the Short family’s courage, suffering, and legacy.
“Renaming this school is not simply about changing signage,” said Maha Rizvi, district director for Senator Eloise Gomez Reyes. “It’s about centering truth, honoring legacy, and ensuring our students grow up learning the full history of the ground they walk on. The injustices the Short family endured is a painful part of our region’s history, but today we ensure this tragedy is never forgotten.”
In 1945, O’Day H. Short, a Black refrigeration engineer, purchased land at Randall and Pepper avenues—a part of town where Black families were not permitted to live. After refusing to leave despite threats, Short’s home was set ablaze on December 16, 1945. O’Day, his wife Helen, and their children Barry and Carol Ann all died from injuries caused by the fire. The case was never prosecuted, despite overwhelming suspicion of arson…