Naming Controversy
When Noemi Dominguez was under construction, the School Board asked the residents of the city to generate a list of names for the new school. Forms were provided in the local newspaper, and residents wrote their choices and delivered it to the main office. A large majority of the vote was in favor of naming the school after retired principal and teacher, Mrs. Ruth Johnson, who served the district for over 30 years as an educator. However, the school board chose a name that was not proposed by any significant percentage of the respondents. They named it after Noemi Dominguez, a 1991 graduate of La Feria High School who obtained her BA from Rice University and was a teacher in the Houston ISD. Dominguez was brutally murdered by Angel Maturino Reséndiz, The Railway Killer/The Railroad Killer. The school board's decision to name the new elementary school after Dominguez was a tribute to the short life of a local Mexican American woman who made headlines with her death but did not impact the La Feria school district with her life.
The school board's decision was reached because of the board's desire to name the school after a respected Mexican American community member. Indeed, Dominguez Elementary School was the first local school to be named after a Mexican American. This was significant given the local history of Mexican segregation.
Read more about this topic: La Feria Independent School District
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