VETERANS WEIGH IN ON MEMORIAL H.S. CONTROVERSY

By Juan Montoya

As the controversy unleashed at Veterans Memorial High School over changes at the school that led to the suspension of principal Acacia Ameel continues to swirl in the community, at least one group that participated in the meeting that day wants to clear the air.

The commander of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2035, who was present at the meeting attended by board members of the Brownsville Independent School District, interim Superintendent Carl Montoya, Veterans H.S. students and faculty and a contingent of Cheezmeh, a local Facebook group, said he was contacted early in the day with the "rumor" that the board and administration wanted to change the name of the high school.

"The scuttlebutt indicated that they wanted to drop the veterans name," Lucio said Friday. "I thought that it was a show of disrespect to only to the members of the VFW, but to all the veterans who have served in the military."

Although Lucio would not reveal the source of the chisme, he and his group did present the colors and he spoke at the meeting during the presentation. He said he expressed his displeasure at the idea.

Later, after board members and the administration explained that there were no plans afoot to change the name, he suggested that the transition of the high school to a science technology and medical pre-college programs could be carried on at other BISD facilities with less commotion.

"They have an empty school at Breeden that could very easily be used for the magnet school," he said. "We all want what's best for our children. If you're gong to get people from other communities from around the city to attend classes, why not set it up there?"

Earlier, the VFW public relations officer Al Senteno had told us that he had not heard of the rumor that a change of the name of the school might be in the works, but that the group had attended the event to present the colors.

However, Lucio's statements indicate that at least he had been called by someone that was spreading the rumor.

"I'm not going to say who it was, let's just say that there was some scuttlebutt out there that they were going to change the name," he said.

The BISD administration is carrying out an investigation to determine the source of the false rumor. During the meeting , students associated with the athletic department, the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and others also complained to the board about the reports indicating the BISD planned to end their programs.

The administration assured the students that no such moves were contemplated with the implementation of the new tech and medical programs.

Ameel will remain suspended until the completion of the investigation. Former Canales Elementary Principal Debbie Alford was placed as interim administrator at the campus.