Photo courtesy of the City of Coral Springs

By David L. Snelling

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Late Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer will have a school renamed after her.

The Broward County School Board gave Schools Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn the green light to initiate the process to rename Sawgrass Middle School in her honor despite some objections from parents.

Metayer made history as the first Haitian woman to be elected to the Coral Springs City Commission in 2020.

She ran unopposed in 2024 and was rumored to run for U.S. Congress before her death.

Metayer was a prominent Florida Democratic Party leader, an environmental scientist and a champion for environmental justice and disaster relief across the state.

She took on leadership roles in Haitian American voter outreach for the Florida Democratic Party and served as Florida’s Caribbean Vote Director for Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign against President Donald Trump.

Her mother, Marly Metayer, who’s running for daughter’s seat in the November 3, 2026, election, said renaming a school after Nancy Metayer is an honor.

“Nancy has a lot to do with the good things in the community,” Marly Metayer said. “That’s why I’m running for her seat to keep Nancy’s legacy alive.”

Metayer said her daughter sponsored legislation for Coral Springs to celebrate Haitian Heritage Month in May, the first in the city’s history.

“Nancy was the voice of the Haitian community,” she said. “And we need to continue that legacy and represent the Haitian population because everyone deserves to be heard and present in their community.”

According to police, Metayer was shot and killed by her husband during a domestic violence incident in April 2026 at their Coral Springs home.

Stephen Bowen was charged with first degree murder and pleaded not guilty.

He is awaiting trial.

Since her death, Metayer’s family, friends and colleagues have paid tribute to her including a portrait that hung at the Haitian Heritage Month museum exhibit called Continuum: Heritage and Expression, a tree planted in her honor and a proposal to name a post office after her.

Her supporters advocated for a school to bear her name and the school board agreed.

“Vice Mayor Metayer was deeply involved with Sawgrass Middle School and its school community, building meaningful relationships with students, families, educators, and staff and supporting efforts that helped students thrive,” the agenda item reads.

“Naming Sawgrass Middle School in her honor would recognize her lasting contributions to the community and create a meaningful legacy that reflects the values she championed throughout her life — education, service, environmental stewardship, and care for others.”

But some parents have pushed back against the idea, citing costs during budget constraints and renaming Sawgrass Middle School would strip it of its identity and history.

They instead support naming a building or a program in her honor.

Over the summer, U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz introduced a bill to rename U.S. Postal Service facility at 3255 NW 94th Avenue as the “Nancy Metayer Post Office Building.”

The bill is waiting for a vote by the full House.