The Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education voted Monday to “start the process” of renaming Cesar Chavez Elementary School in light of recent allegations that the prominent labor rights leader sexually abused several women.
The board’s unanimous vote comes about one month after the New York Times published an investigation alleging that Chavez, who died in 1993, had sexually abused two adolescent girls between 1972 and 1977, as well as Dolores Huerta, a fellow labor activist.
But before Monday night’s vote, District 6 board member Juan Lecona said he has “a lot of questions” about what happened and whether OKCPS needs to change the name of its school at 600 S.E. Grand Blvd.
“It is heartbreaking to hear what happened. But with all due respect, that is only one side of the story, in my opinion,” Lecona said. “I am not saying it did not happen. But Cesar Chavez is no longer here for him to defend himself. There is a lot of questions for me. But if it is necessary to change the name because of what happened, then let’s follow policy. But again, it is wrong regardless of what happened. It is wrong. But again, I have so many questions. So this is not the time, so I am going to go ahead and continue with the policy.”
In a statement Tuesday morning, the board’s newest member, Galilea Martinez, said victims should always be heard and taken seriously.
“For many years, they were silent because of feared retaliation. There is no world where we excuse the behavior exercised by Cesar Chavez,” Martinez said. “Now, as a board member, my focus is ensuring our schools reflect values our students can pride themselves on, like safety, respect and integrity — values that name no longer possesses. I look forward to community input in selecting a name that reflects values our students can look up to.”
Martinez represents District 7, in which the school is located, and she said during Monday’s meeting that she looked up to figures “like Cesar Chavez” growing up. She added that the allegations were “deeply disappointing.”
During his remarks, Lecona affirmed an earlier suggestion by Martinez to incorporate dual-language communications in the renaming process.
“I look forward to the community’s response and seeing what names they suggest, as well as having those surveys out. I hope that they can both be in English and Spanish,” Martinez said. “And then I hope that whenever we have these conversations, that they are also inputted in both languages.”
Board Chairwoman Paula Lewis said the district had English speakers use translation headphones during conversations with communities that predominantly speak Spanish during Pathway to Greatness, suggesting the same technology could address potential barriers in this case.
District 3 board member Jessica Cifuentes noted that OKCPS has the only school in the state named after Chavez, underscoring the need for inclusion.
“It is a big deal to include everybody that we can,” Cifuentes said.
During the meeting, Martinez also expressed concern about students understanding the reason for the name change and asked if there is support for students to digest and understand the topic.
“This is an elementary school, and so they are younger and this is a really heavy topic to discuss with them,” Martinez said. “There were children involved in the story that was discussed, and it is disappointing. But I do not think we should bury what happened. But we should ensure that our students are understanding why the changes are being made, especially when it has such a heavy cultural name attached to it.”
Lecona also asked “how much is it going to cost to change the name?” He clarified that he does not think the cost should be prohibitive, but that he would rather see the money go to teachers and students.
Lewis asked for financial information to be included in future updates to the board, adding that the process will likely take several months.
“It is not an overnight process, because it does involve community engagement and bigger conversation here,” Lewis said. “And then even if we voted to change the name, there are other things that have to happen down that path. So I think when we changed some names of schools about six or seven years ago, it was probably a good seven to eight-month process before everything moved through.”
Lewis chaired the OKCPS Board of Education in 2018 when members voted to rename a trio of schools that beared names associated with generals who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.
The district’s renaming process follows policy D-08, which states an ad hoc advisory committee shall be established to review suggested names and work with stakeholders before making a final recommendation to the full OKCPS board.
The committee will feature members of the district’s communications, legal and capital improvement departments, a building leader, two teachers, two support staff, two parents and two students. The policy adds that the board member representing the school in question may also be included. Lewis suggested Lecona and Cifuentes also be included, to which Martinez agreed. The policy also allows for, but does not mandate, community feedback meetings before the advisory committee makes its final recommendation to the board.
Community members can make recommendations to the committee through an online form, according to the policy. The form must:
- Identify the facility to be renamed;
- Propose a name; and
- Include a reasoning for the proposed name.
If the recommendation is “to honor an individual,” the request must cite the contributions and scale thereof and include three letters of support. In a statement, Lewis encouraged community input.
“We are committed to a process that truly reflects the voices, history and past values of the community this school serves,” Lewis said.
