Fresno Unified board votes to rename Forkner Elementary, will now honor Roger Tatarian

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno Unified board members have voted to rename a local elementary school to honor a prominent local Armenian.

Forkner Elementary in northwest Fresno will be renamed after Fresno State graduate and writer Roger Tatarian.

The school had originally been named after J.C. Forkner. He died in 1969 but some in the district say while Forkner was alive, he excluded many races, including Armenians, from living in his developments.

At a meeting Wednesday night, board members approve renaming the school H Roger Tatarian Elementary.

Tatarian was an avid writer and started his career as a war correspondent for United Press International.