Jaime D. Padron Elementary School will be the new name of the North Central Elementary School No. 2 when it opens in Austin ISD for the 2014–15 school year, following an Austin ISD board of trustees vote April 28 to name the school.
The district is retrofitting a warehouse on West Rundberg Lane near Metric Boulevard to house the school and held a groundbreaking ceremony Oct. 1. In February, the board invited members of the community to submit names for the school to the district for consideration, and in April the board asked the administration to vet potential names.
The district researched each nomination's background, criminal records and history. Board members asked staff to vet names including Jaime D. Padron, Lucy Duncan, Csar Chavez, Gonzalo Barrientos, Juan Navarro and Hobart Gaines. Trustees added a few names that community members had mentioned but did not formally submit.
At the school board's April 28 meeting, trustee Ann Teich made the motion to name the school after Padron. A Texan, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1989 to 1997 and later became a police officer, serving on the Austin Police Department for three years, according to AISD documents. He died April 6, 2012 in the line of duty.
"All of the other names are very worthy, but this one received the most community support," Teich said.
Most of the names suggested for the school had between one and four nominations from the community, while Padron had 11. Connor J. Grady, whose name trustees did not discuss, had eight votes. More information about the district's facility naming process is available at www.austinisd.org/naming.