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Public commenters urge renaming Chavez Elementary for Roberto G. Sanchez
Summary
At a Madison Metropolitan School District renaming committee meeting, multiple commenters—former scholarship recipients, educators and local residents—urged naming Chavez Elementary after Roberto G. Sanchez, citing his scholarship programs and long-term impact on Latinx students. Committee members heard testimony but deferred a vote until the ranking session next week.
Several community members told the Chavez Elementary renaming committee on Aug. 5 that the school should be renamed for Roberto G. Sanchez, a local educator whose scholarship and mentoring programs supporters say have helped generations of first-generation bilingual and Latinx students.
"I would like to nominate the new name for, the Cesar Chavez Elementary School to Roberto g Sanchez Elementary School," said Gia Euler Platt, who described Sanchez's scholarship, mentoring and financial programs and said more than 100 Madison-area students have benefited. Hernando Mancilla, an associate professor at Edgewood University and board member of the Sanchez Scholars, said he had served on scholarship selection committees and witnessed alumni return to serve the community.
Supporters highlighted the school’s dual-language immersion program and argued that a local Latinx namesake would reflect students’ backgrounds and provide role models. "The name Roberto Sanchez is associated with academic excellence, sterling character, and caring generosity," Mancilla said, summarizing testimony from scholarship recipients.
Committee members did not vote. Staff told the group they will compile feedback and run a confidential ranking process next week; the committee’s chosen finalists will be submitted to the full board after that process.
