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EDUCATION

LCPS board votes to rename admin building after Trujillo

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Las Cruces Public School’s Downtown headquarters – known as the administration building or informally by staff as “the central office” – is being renamed to honor Dr. Karen M. Trujillo.

Trujillo, who served as the district’s superintendent from 2019-2021, was killed in February when she was struck by a vehicle while walking her dogs. She was 50 years old.

The district’s Board of Education unanimously voted to rename the building in her honor.

The move follows a motion by the board at its March 16 meeting to appoint a building renaming committee.

The committee, chaired by LCPS Physical Plant Executive Director Bobby Stout, was tasked with gathering public input on suggested names. According to Stout and committee member Samantha Lewis, LCPS public relations coordinator, input was solicited using a survey in English and Spanish. More than 1,000 people submitted feedback.  

Stout and Lewis presented results to the board on Tuesday, May 4. More than 70 percent voted in favor of renaming the building for Trujillo.  

According to LCPS policy, renaming district facilities is the responsibility of the Board of Education, which “has the prerogative to select a name after a distinguished person, living or deceased, who has made an outstanding contribution to the community, county, state or nation.”  

Prior to taking the helm at LCPS, Trujillo worked for more than three decades as a teacher, principal, administrator and researcher. She also served as New Mexico’s secretary of education.

“At the heart of everything she did, Dr. Trujillo was an advocate for students,” said LCPS Chief of Staff Sean Barham, who worked closely with Trujillo during her tenure as superintendent. “And the administration building supports everything we do in the classroom, so it is fitting that her legacy live on as a permanent name in education for the teachers, students and staff at Las Cruces Public Schools.” 


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