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Harlandale ISD board votes to name new multipurpose facility for Judge Edmundo M. Zaragoza
Summary
After extensive public comment, the Harlandale ISD Board of Trustees voted to name the district's new performing arts and competition gym the Edmundo M. Zaragoza Multipurpose Center; the board clarified the existing Shea Center name will remain on the older portion of the site.
The Harlandale Independent School District Board of Trustees voted Jan. 23 to name the district's new performing fine-arts and competition-gym facility the Edmundo M. Zaragoza Multipurpose Center.
The vote followed more than an hour of public comment from community members, former students and Zaragoza's family, who described his decades of service as a teacher, school board member and justice of the peace. Family members and longtime associates urged the board to honor Zaragoza's role in expanding educational access on the South Side of San Antonio.
Supporters told the board Zaragoza was a teacher and coach who later served on the Harlandale school board and as a justice of the peace. "Please consider... I'm totally in support of naming that building," community member Ruben C. Tejeda said during public comment. Zaragoza's daughter Elisa Zaragoza Garcia said, "My father was a very humble person, but he was so proud of his community." Trustee Luna, during board discussion, urged colleagues not to delay: "Let's not wait so long to do this if we're gonna do it," he said, referencing the long interval before other local figures received similar recognition.
Trustee Ortiz made the formal motion on the board floor. "I move that the school board vote to name district facility, the performing fine arts and competition gym to the Edmundo M. Zaragoza Multipurpose Center," she said. The motion received seconds from board members Mancha and Cavazos and was approved on a voice vote with no recorded roll-call tally; the board president announced "the motion carries."
Board discussion before the vote focused on scope and process. Trustees and staff clarified that the new construction would be the portion renamed for Zaragoza while the older gymnasium complex on the same property would retain the Shea Center name. District staff and trustees described the project as a multipurpose facility containing an auditorium-style seating wing and a competition gym; they noted much of the older site will be demolished as part of the new construction and that naming the new portion would not remove the Shea name from remaining older facilities.
Public commenters and trustees also placed Zaragoza's candidacy in local history: speakers said he was among the first Mexican American elected to the Harlandale school board in the 1970s, served many years in local public roles and later was appointed and elected as a justice of the peace in the 1990s. Several speakers told stories about Zaragoza's work on truancy, bilingual education and local youth programs.
The board did not set a public timeline for signage or a ribbon-cutting during the meeting. Trustees asked staff to follow the district's internal process for naming and for community engagement surrounding commemorative signage and programmatic recognition.
The board moved directly from this agenda item into remaining informational reports on student outcomes and other items. The naming motion was introduced and approved during the regular meeting held Jan. 23, 2025, at McCollum High School.
