Local Communities & School Closures

"Rodriguez joined thousands of teachers who gathered at Luis Muñoz Rivera Park for a mile-long march to the island’s Capitol building, chanting, “Julia go home!” and “Where is Ricky? Ricky isn’t here, Ricky is selling what’s left of the country.” (They are referring to Rosselló, whom many refer to simply as “Ricky”). — Puerto Rico Is Trying to Overhaul Its Public Schools and Teachers Are Furious

“We are responding to an attack on the most precious thing our country has, which is childhood and its hopes. They are the main victims of all this chaos, improvisation and pillaging in the privatization that looms over public education. We come out in defense of the mistreated teachers who are denied respect for their work." — Puerto Rico Public Teachers Union Calls for Aug. 15 Strike

"Parental involvement has been an integral part of the school community. Many parents walk their children to school, spend time there during the day, and get involved in school activities. Many who graduated from the school later return to volunteer there.“The unity we had here, the organization we had here, the family environment, the community involved — it totally gets lost once they’re out of here,” said María Arriaga, a community member who volunteers at the school. — About a quarter of Puerto Rico’s schools are shutting down. Here’s a look inside one.

“In the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria, [Rosselló] needs to invest in public schools to support and stabilize kids’ learning, not abandon and privatize schools,” President Aida Diaz of the Puerto Rican teachers' union wrote in a statement early this month. — Why Puerto Rico Is Pushing to Privatize Its Schools

Students, parents and teachers protest May 3 against the closing of the Clemente Ramírez de Arellano school in Manatí, Puerto Rico. Many of the signs say, “Enough already.” — Protests against school closures in Puerto Rico

"But while the school appeared relatively unscathed, Hurricane Maria has left deep scars in the town. Children grieve the loss of friends and family members who fled to the mainland, part of an exodus of 27,000 students in the months immediately following the storm. The suicide prevention hotline has seen an alarming spike in calls from desperate residents. And in the mountains surrounding the town, blue tarps still cover dozens of homes where the roofs have yet to be repaired." — Kids are back in school in Puerto Rico. But Hurricane Maria’s effects still linger

Months after Maria, the air conditioning no longer worked and mold was growing in the classrooms, according to a teacher at the school. A tarp covered the principal’s office, where the roof was still missing. — Kids are back in school in Puerto Rico. But Hurricane Maria’s effects still linger

“I am suffering,” María Díaz, 65, said as she picked up her two granddaughters from John F. Kennedy Middle School in Caguas, which is scheduled to close. “I felt this school was a refuge.” “No one wants it to close,” one of her granddaughters, Avril Santos, 13, a seventh grader, said from the back seat of her grandmother’s S.U.V. “I have many friends, and there’s no bullying here.” — Puerto Rico’s Schools Are in Tumult, and Not Just Because of Hurricane Maria

A modo de ejemplo, dijo que en la escuela Jacinto López en Dorado, tendrán que dividir los salones en dos para atender el exceso de matrícula de estudiantes quienes llegan de un par de escuelas que cerraron. — Sombrío y confuso el nuevo semestre

Según los protestantes, "nadie del DE fue a inspeccionarlas (las escuelas) y no existe carta oficial notificando a los padres el motivo del cierre, ya que de haberse seguido el debido proceso, los planteles no cerrarían”. — Repudian cierre de escuelas en Toa Baja

We are tired of the abuse. Our hearts are broken. Not for ourselves, but for our children. They come here [to the occupation encampment], and they suffer, because they want to see their school reopened. They haven’t even had vacation because they have been here in the struggle with us. — Standing Against The Privatization Storm

“Mami, look at the basketball court! They painted it!” said a little boy as soon as he walked into the school towards a first-grade classroom alongside his mother, while passing by a handful of classrooms that were still being painted and repaired on Friday. — In Puerto Rico, new school year begins after Hurricane Maria, big changes to education system

When the Hato Nuevo school was shut down this summer, Barez's children were relocated to S.U. Josefina Sitiriche in the nearby Celadas community, If she walks her kids to school, like she used to, it would take her 43 minutes to get there; driving adds about six more minutes. The family adjusted their commute.

“My husband starts work at 7 in the morning. That means I have to wake my kids earlier, get them ready earlier, so I can leave the house in time to drop my husband at his job and then take the kids to school,” “Right now, I don’t have a lot of choices, but I’m considering homeschooling my kids if necessary,” Barez said. — In Puerto Rico, new school year begins after Hurricane Maria, big changes to education system

Parents of special needs children in Puerto Rico feel blindsided after school closures and limited access to special needs education a year after Hurricane Maria.

Teachers and community members surrounded the Capitol Building in San Juan to symbolize a “Shield To Protect Public Education in Puerto Rico.”

"Román Barranco said many students at Inés María Mendoza showed clear signs of distress in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Since then, she’s seen everything from frequent crying and lack of appetite to aggression and kids reluctant to even set foot in their classrooms.

Children and teens she has met with grapple not just with memories of the storm, but also with the changes in routine that came in its aftermath. Most families in Caimito were left without power and water for months, and some had limited access to food or shelter.

About a month after Maria, Román Barranco went into a classroom and asked the children, ages 7 to 10, to draw or write down how they were feeling.

“Everything was sadness,” she said of what the kids drew. “One of the drawings was a house without a roof, a mom, a dad and a child crying. That for me was so shocking. … He needs help, and he’s not asking for help.” — A Year After Hurricane Maria, School Closures Make Trauma Worse For Puerto Rico’s Children

The long-term impacts of Hurricane Maria on the mental health of Puerto Rico’s children and teachers could have big repercussions on the island’s future. The Puerto Rico Department of Education is formally assessing the emotional and psychological state of its roughly 320,000 public school students.