Parents at a Prince George’s Co. school named after Cesar Chavez struggle to process new allegations against him
Parents at a Prince George’s County elementary school are trying to make sense of new allegations tied to the school’s namesake, the late civil rights and labor union activist Cesar Chavez.
The Prince George’s County Public Schools system is considering renaming César Chávez Dual Spanish Immersion elementary school. (Jerry Jackson/The Banner)(Credit The Banner)
The Prince George’s County Public Schools system is considering renaming César Chávez Dual Spanish Immersion elementary school. (Jerry Jackson/The Banner)(Credit The Banner)
Parents at a Prince George’s County elementary school are trying to make sense of new allegations tied to the school’s namesake, the late civil rights and labor union activist Cesar Chavez.
Families at César Chávez Dual Spanish Immersion School in Hyattsville told WTOP they’re stunned by the revelations and unsure of what comes next for the community.
“There’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 the New York Times’ reporting 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.
“They 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.
“The expenses that are involved with making a name change like this is substantial,” he said.
For many families, the stress doesn’t stop there. Fay said parents are trying to figure out how, or even whether, to talk to their kids about the allegations.
“On top of all that, we have to tell our kids, ‘Oh, the name of the school that you’re going to has been tarnished by this individual who’s not even around anymore,’” he said.
“There’s a person that is the namesake of where you go every day, and he abused children possibly your age.”
He said the news lands at a time when the Latino community is already stretched thin.
“This is a difficult … 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.
“Some people are very, very, very emotionally charged to change it as quickly as possible,” he said.
Prince George’s County Public Schools said it considers the allegations deeply troubling and is evaluating next steps for the school’s name through its formal community‑driven renaming process.
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