Roswell school board indefinitely tables proposed survey on renaming Nancy Lopez Elementary after hours of public comment

The Roswell Independent School District Board of Education voted on Tuesday to table indefinitely a proposal to circulate a community survey about whether the district should rename Nancy Lopez Elementary School.

The motion to table was made by Board member Mrs. Sanchez and the board carried the motion after a roll-call vote. The action came after more than two hours of public testimony in Pueblo Auditorium from current and former school officials, teachers, parents and longtime residents who both opposed and supported seeking community input.

Why it mattered: Nancy Lopez Elementary — named for the Roswell-born professional golfer in 1991 — drew a large crowd of speakers who described Lopez as a role model and urged the board to leave the school’s name unchanged. Other speakers and some school staff said they wanted a formal, district-run survey to let current neighborhood residents and school stakeholders choose the name for the brand-new building being constructed north of Mesa Middle School.

At the microphone, Diane Taylor, identified as a former school board member, urged the board to keep the name: “Nancy Lopez is not known just in New Mexico, not just in The United States. She's known worldwide. I implore you…Do not change. Do not make fools of Roswell, New Mexico.”

Resident Juan Lopez, who said he lives near the new facility, pressed the board on the motive for proposing a name change and asked the trustees to “vote against this issue.” He also noted demographic figures he said were relevant to the discussion: “Let us not forget that 78% of the student population in our district is Hispanic. And Hispanic enrollment in Nancy Lopez is 89%,” he said.

Teachers and school staff who spoke asked the…