Houston ISD will now celebrate "Farm Workers Day" on March 30, renaming the student holiday that previously honored the late civil rights icon and leader of the Latino labor movement, César Chávez, as well as United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta.
The board announced the change at its monthly school board meeting Thursday night after a New York Times investigation detailed sexual abuse allegations against Chávez, with Huerta claiming she was a victim.
The board added that any recommendations for renaming César Chávez High School in southeast Houston as well as any changes to next year's academic calendar would be brought before the board at a later date.
The high school's student population last year was nearly 88% Hispanic, according to demographics reported by HISD. The school opened in the summer of 2000 and serves approximately1,800 students.
"With respect to all those impacted by this information, we have time to engage in a thoughtful and timely process, inclusive of our HISD community family and we look forward to an engaging process," board member Angela Lemond Flowers said. "We will share some more information in the coming weeks."
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The board opened its meeting by addressing the reporting by The Times, which alleges that Chavez sexually assaulted two girls when they were minors.
"We recognize that allegations of this nature are serious and can be deeply impactful, particularly for victims and survivors," Lemond Flowers said.
César Chávez Day, observed on a day near Chávez's March 31 birthday,became a federal holidayin 2014 when then-President Barack Obama signed the presidential proclamation honoring Chávez.Texas has celebratedthe holiday for more than 25 years.
Gov. Greg Abbottsaid he plans to work with lawmakers to remove it from state law "altogether" during the Texas Legislature's next session in 2027.
HISD, which previously called its student holiday "Chávez-Huerta Day," joined organizations across the state and nation in cancelling events that honored the late Latino labor activist.
On Wednesday, Houston’s annual march honoring Chávez was canceled, according to one of the event's organizers, Arturo Eureste.
“We were pretty much deciding whether we were going to cancel it or not,” Eureste said in an interview withHouston Public Media. “And theNew York Timesarticle came out. And we understand, based on that article and what it talks about, that we needed to not have this march here and wait to see what was going to happen with all that information.”
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