Las Cruces Public Schools votes to rename Cesar Chavez Elementary School

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- The Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education voted Tuesday to rename Cesar Chavez Elementary School. The unanimous vote comes after recent sexual abuse allegations against the labor rights leader.

LCPS board members said the elementary school's name was chosen before the allegations came into light. The board discussed renaming the school March 24 and revisited the agenda item in early April.

Community members emailed feedback to LCPS. At Tuesday's meeting, board members said out of more than 50 emails, the majority were in favor of changing the school's name.

The board also listed the estimated cost to rename the school, which involves changing signs and lettering. The most expensive change will be the building's lettering, which is estimated to cost $10,100, according to the board.

The board said the next step is to work with the New Mexico Public Education Department to submit the name change. The LCPS Information Operations team to make internal updates.

A timeline presented at the meeting said a new name could be officially adopted by July 1.