A veteran educator and Los Angeles Unified School District administrator has been named principal of Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez High School.
Cesar Quezada, the current principal at El Sereno Middle School, will take on the new role when the spring semester begins in January, according to an LAUSD spokesperson.
Quezada has an 11-year history as a principal at several LAUSD schools including Gage Middle School in Huntington Park and Elizabeth Learning Center in Cudahy.
The assignment comes months after the unexplained removal of longtime principal Mauro Bautista. John Cerezo, the assistant principal, was also removed without explanation. In October, district officials informed the Mendez school community that Bautista had resigned. Cerezo has since returned as an instructional coach, according to staff.
The sudden administrators’ removal in April led to student protests and community outcry with teachers, parents, and neighborhood leaders asking for more transparency from the district over the decision.
For months, LAUSD officials remained tight-lipped about the move, repeatedly citing privacy and confidentiality surrounding personnel matters. Since then, the district has appointed several interim leaders to fill the roles.
Students began the school year this August with Fred Simmons and Alexander Contreras as interim principal and assistant principal. Most recently, John Aguirre served as interim principal.
According to Mendez Community School Coordinator Emily Grijalva, the search for a principal involved getting input from the school community through surveys. An interviewing committee that included students, parents and staff as well as a community partner was also created as part of the process.
“We’ve had about five interim principals so we are hopeful for leadership stability next semester,” Grijalva said. “We hope [Quezada] is a team player and will roll up his sleeves alongside us and work to rebuild our morale and help us heal.”
Bautista was the first assistant principal at the school when it opened in 2009, eventually becoming its principal in 2011. Late last year, a team of our youth reporters sat together with the former principal to discuss his work at the school.
According to an LAUSD spokesperson, additional opportunities for community members to get to know Quezada will be provided in the coming weeks.