FONTANA, CA – Fontana Unified School District Board of Education unanimously voted in favor of A.B. Miller High School retaining the current “Rebel” likeness as its mascot during the Feb. 1 Board meeting, acknowledging community feedback following an exploratory rebranding process.

The consideration of a rebranded mascot began in June 2020, following an online petition created by students and staff that called for the selection of a new mascot that would better represent the community and school.

A.B. Miller High School discontinued the use of the Rebel image, instead using a large letter “M,” while it solicited input from the school community and developed a rebranding committee composed of students, alumni, certificated and classified staff, administrators and parents.

The committee gathered in August 2022 to discuss the purpose, parameters and intended goal of the process, which aimed to gain consensus regarding whether the school should retain the Rebel name and change its mascot image, or change both the name and the image.

The feedback plan was presented at the Sept. 7 Board of Education meeting, where direction was given as to how to elicit full stakeholder input to assist with advising the Board. The plan was implemented, with feedback solicited via Thought Exchange. The data indicated consensus among students, employees and community members to keep the Rebel mascot, which was shared at the Nov. 2 Board meeting.

The Board unanimously voted to approve the recommendation that A.B. Miller High School keep the Rebel mascot name, and requested additional input from staff, alumni and community members regarding the selection of a new mascot image.

School leaders then conducted three phases of outreach in November and December, soliciting additional community input regarding what mascot image would best represent A.B. Miller High School and its core values. Approximately 1,580 participants responded to an online survey in the first phase, after which A.B. Miller administrators compiled the top 10 mascot image suggestions.

Following two in-person town hall meetings in the second phase of feedback, the top 10 suggestions were narrowed down to five new images, as well as the option to keep the original mascot image. In the third phase of outreach, approximately 1,000 community members, alumni, staff, and current and former A.B. Miller parents voted on their mascot preference through a Microsoft Form, with 58.7% of participants voting to keep the original mascot image.

A.B. Miller High School principal Dr. Barbara Kelley presented the community feedback to the Board on Feb. 1, after which the Board approved the continued use of the Rebel mascot likeness, with guidance that the image be used as is.

“As a longtime member of the A.B. Miller High School community, I know that there is a strong sense of passion and pride for our school,” Kelley said. “Thank you to the students, alumni, staff, families and community who took the time to share their thoughts on what it means to be a Rebel and how to best represent the history and values of our school.”

PHOTO CAPTION:

FUSD_ABM_MASCOT1: The Fontana Unified Board of Education approved the continued use of the current “Rebel” likeness as the mascot of A.B. Miller High School during the Feb. 1 Board meeting.