Elementary School Named for Deceased Principal

After emotional pleas by several students and parents, the Los Angeles School Board voted unanimously this week to rename an East Los Angeles elementary school in honor of its popular principal, who died in July.

Riggin Elementary School will become Morris K. Hamasaki Elementary School, making it the first district school named for an Asian-American. Hamasaki, who was the school’s principal for 11 years, was praised for raising student test scores, bringing a sense of community to the school and inspiring the mostly Latino students to set ambitious goals.