Parents at a Prince George鈥檚 County elementary school are trying to make sense of new allegations tied to the school鈥檚 namesake, the late civil rights and labor union activist Cesar Chavez.
Families at in Hyattsville told 海角社区app they鈥檙e stunned by the revelations and unsure of what comes next for the community.
鈥淭here’s a wide spectrum of feelings about this. What I had sent out in a message to our staff and families, acknowledging the situation, was that anything that you feel right now is valid,” Ian Fay, the president of the Parent Teacher Organization at the school, said.
Fay said families are worn out as they try to absorb about Chavez. The investigation reported that Chavez, who died in 1993, is now the subject of allegations that he engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior involving women and minors during his time leading the United Farm Workers.
Fay said “shock” is the word he keeps hearing from parents and staff.
鈥淭hey come to school under the banner of Cesar Chavez and the positive things that organization has brought in the name of support of the Latino community, and to hear this situation come down the pike, in addition to all the other things that we are dealing with and that we are facing, has just been very heavy. Very sad,” he said.
He said some parents asked about a name change right away, but he worries about what that would mean for a school that already has limited resources.
鈥淭he expenses that are involved with making a name change like this is substantial,” he said.
For many families, the stress doesn鈥檛 stop there. Fay said parents are trying to figure out how, or even whether, to talk to their kids about the allegations.
鈥淥n top of all that, we have to tell our kids, ‘Oh, the name of the school that you鈥檙e going to has been tarnished by this individual who鈥檚 not even around anymore,'” he said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a person that is the namesake of where you go every day, and he abused children possibly your age.鈥�
He said the news lands at a time when the Latino community is already stretched thin.
鈥淭his is a difficult 鈥� thing to come in the midst of multiple other difficult things that are happening in our community,” Fay said.
Some parents, he said, want the name gone immediately.
鈥淪ome people are very, very, very emotionally charged to change it as quickly as possible,鈥� he said.
Prince George鈥檚 County Public Schools said it considers the allegations deeply troubling and is evaluating next steps for the school鈥檚 name through its formal community鈥慸riven renaming process.
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