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LAS CRUCES — Reaction was swift last month after a bombshell New York Times report in which three women, including New Mexico’s Dolores Huerta, came forward with allegations that revered labor leader César Chavez sexually assaulted women and young girls in the 1960s and ’70s.

Santa Fe Public Schools immediately removed Chavez’s name from an elementary school named for him. sa���ʴ�ý������ҳ��� Mayor Tim Keller announced moves to rename streets and public buildings. Federal and state leaders in New Mexico issued statements calling for immediate action to rebrand public entities memorializing the civil rights icon and co-founder of the United Farm Workers.

Ahead of any steps to remove his name from César Chávez Elementary, the Las Cruces Public Schools board has solicited public input. So far, reaction has been mixed.

On Wednesday, the school board held a public meeting at the school to hear comments on the issue and also invited the community to submit written responses to the district. School board President Pamela Cort indicated there could be another public session, and the district said written comments are still welcome.

The gathering drew a small crowd and nine speakers, including educators, school families and members of the community. Six opposed changing the name, three supported it and a few suggested that if any change occurs, the school should not be named after a person.

“Why is Las Cruces considering erasing the name of a school that honors a Mexican-American icon, a man who fought for American farmworkers’ rights?” asked Juan Garcia, the leader of a local conservative group.

High school teacher Gail Wheeler said the question had quickly become “a ridiculously political issue” while arguing a change would model leadership for young people attending Las Cruces’ public schools. Among her own students, she said, “Teenagers think this is kind of a stupid idea … but they want the adults in their life to do the thing that is right.”

A few longtime teachers at the school criticized spending money on a possible rebrand — estimated by Superintendent Ignacio Ruiz last month at between $12,000 and $15,000 — when the site is in need of new playground equipment, roof repairs and other investments.

Several asked questions about what meaningful role the public would play in the decision, after a majority of school board members signaled at a meeting last month that they favored changing the school’s name.  

The school district shared 16 written comments with the Journal that were submitted by email ahead of Thursday’s meeting. Support for removing the name in the emailed comments was strong, with 13 in favor of renaming the school, one opposed, and two that did not take a position but raised concerns about the expense or the wisdom of naming schools after people. Among the supporters were employees of LCPS, including staff of the school.

In person and in writing, several commenters made suggestions for new names, although under school district policy, the process of considering a name and gathering public input would not begin before the board takes action to remove the current name. It is not yet clear if that decision will be on the agenda for the board’s regular meeting later in April.

Nearly six years have passed since LCPS rebranded one of its schools, when it stripped the name of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate y Salazar from Oñate High School and ultimately selected Organ Mountain as the school’s new name.

Board member Teresa Tenorio, who was new to the board when it voted in July 2020, has since called that process “rushed.” At the board’s last meeting, Tenorio requested a slower and more informative process before the current board takes any action concerning Chávez Elementary.

Algernon ��’A������������ is the Journal’s southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.