Puerto Rico Teachers Fleeing Hurricane Maria Arrived At Orlando’s Airport With Nothing. They Left With Jobs

Puerto Rico Teachers Fleeing Hurricane Maria Arrived at Orlando’s Airport With Nothing. They Left With Jobs

As districts across the United States prepare for an influx of students escaping the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the schools in Orlando, Florida, are reaching out to educators from the island with a clear message: "We’re hiring." The Orange County Public Schools officials have stationed themselves at the Orlando airport, welcoming over 100 families and assisting displaced parents in enrolling their children in the city’s public schools. Alongside this support, district human resources personnel are conducting interviews with teachers right there in the terminal. The aim is to provide immediate assistance and a warm welcome to these families during such a challenging time.

Bridget Williams, the district’s chief of staff, expressed her satisfaction to witness the relief on the faces of these families as they enter the room and find a group of people ready to help them. Applicants have the opportunity to briefly meet school officials at the airport, following which they are asked to fill out online applications and submit necessary documents, such as their teaching certificates, to the district office. Provided their background checks go smoothly, they are offered teaching positions. In fact, within days of initiating this process, seven teachers have already been offered jobs, pending background checks.

To further support displaced Puerto Rican teachers find employment in the state, the governor’s office has announced the elimination of bureaucratic hurdles and fees. This will facilitate their transition into new teaching positions in Florida.

One such teacher who successfully secured a teaching job is Aileen Villanueva, a 36-year-old Spanish teacher. She had endured weeks without running water or electricity in her home in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and was extremely concerned about her family’s health. On October 3, she arrived in Fort Lauderdale and soon heard about the district’s hiring initiative. The following day, she headed to the Orlando airport, eager to start a new life on the mainland. Despite having left a 12-year career with the island’s education department, Villanueva did not anticipate the rapid progression of her new life in Florida. She expressed her astonishment at how quickly everything fell into place.

Williams shared the heartwarming story of another educator who arrived at the Orlando airport with 12 family members, including several children. Until then, they were solely focused on survival and had not yet considered how to enroll their children in school. By the time they left the airport, they not only had a plan for their kids’ education, but the woman also had a teaching job at an Orlando elementary school.

The district hopes to fill more than just teaching positions through this airport hiring process. There are openings for paraprofessionals and bookkeepers as well, and one teacher’s spouse even expressed interest in working as a custodian for the district. The aim is to provide comprehensive support and opportunities to these displaced families during their transition.

Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in all Florida counties on October 2 in response to the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Maria. This led to the establishment of disaster relief centers at the Orlando International Airport, Miami International Airport, and the Port of Miami, to aid Puerto Ricans affected by the storm. Apart from the school district, officials from various state agencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Salvation Army, and Catholic Charities of Central Florida have also joined efforts to provide assistance.

Orlando is just one of the many cities along the East Coast, from Florida to Massachusetts, preparing for an expected increase in the number of students following Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico on September 20. While fleeing the island has been challenging, displaced students have already begun to arrive, and with more families securing plane tickets, school leaders anticipate a significant influx. As of now, the Orlando district has enrolled 292 new students from Puerto Rico, a significant increase from the 104 at the end of the previous week. Additionally, the district has admitted 92 new students from the storm-stricken Virgin Islands. Although they have not reached capacity yet, Williams mentioned the possibility of hiring even more teachers to accommodate the expected surge.

Puerto Rico’s school district, which is one of the largest in the United States and consists of approximately 350,000 students and 1,100 schools, was already facing challenges even before the hurricane hit. Last year, 179 campuses were closed due to the financial crisis on the island. Over the past few years, both the district’s enrollment and Puerto Rico’s population have declined by nearly a third, with more than 700,000 Puerto Ricans leaving the island between 2006 and 2015.

The schools in Puerto Rico have been closed for weeks, with some shutting down after Hurricane Irma hit on September 6th. Education officials aim to have all schools reopened by October 23rd, except for those that have been extensively damaged.

As of Monday, Miami-Dade County Public Schools reported that 193 new students from Puerto Rico have enrolled since the hurricane, an increase from 136 on Friday. School officials anticipate that more students will continue to arrive. Frank Zenere, a school psychologist and chair of the district’s crisis management program, visited Puerto Rico last week to assist local leaders and educators in developing a strategy to address the emotional needs of students when they return to class.

The Miami district has also been in discussions with Puerto Rico’s Department of Education to align academic standards and curriculum in order to facilitate a smooth transition for students. Children who arrive at Miami schools without the necessary paperwork are immediately enrolled in classes and given 30 days to provide the required documentation.

The district is seeking additional federal funds to support the needs of Puerto Rican students.

In New York City, which is home to the largest population of Puerto Rican Americans in the mainland and the largest public school district in the nation with 1.1 million students, officials are also preparing for an increase in Puerto Rican students in the coming months. After Hurricanes Maria and Irma, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña sent a letter to families outlining the district’s enrollment process.

"We welcome all students in our schools and have provided guidance to staff to ensure schools are ready to enroll students and support families affected by Hurricane Maria," said district spokeswoman Miranda Barbot in a statement.

In Holyoke, Massachusetts, the city with the highest concentration of Puerto Ricans on the mainland, 80 percent of the school district’s 53,000 students have ties to the island. School officials had already noticed an influx of new students as families left Puerto Rico due to economic concerns. Since the hurricane, even more new arrivals have been trickling in. So far, about a dozen new Puerto Rican students have enrolled, and the district is expecting many more as families secure plane tickets off the island.

"We will see a lot of students who are unaccompanied minors… being sent to live with family members," said Ileana Cintrón, the district’s chief of family and community engagement. "If parents expect to rebuild their homes or receive assistance from FEMA, they have to be there."

Interestingly, at the beginning of the school year, the Holyoke district introduced the Newcomers Academy at one of its high schools, which is a one-year program designed to provide language support to teenagers with limited English skills while also teaching academic content.

Orlando school officials, including spokeswoman Kathy Marsh, are uncertain about how many new students to expect, but they are prepared for an influx. Aside from providing support at the airport, they are monitoring schools with large Puerto Rican populations to determine if additional resources are needed.

For new arrivals, the district has been distributing backpacks filled with school supplies, and there is a new interpreter service to assist parents with limited English in enrolling their children in school. Displaced students do not need the usual required paperwork to attend school, and within a week, school officials assess whether a child is placed appropriately in the correct classroom.

Villanueva, a teacher from Puerto Rico, will also need to adapt to the changes, but she has already identified one advantage of teaching in Orlando: better pay.

"In Puerto Rico, with my salary, I couldn’t find a place to live with my husband, so we were staying with my father," she said. "I’m very excited. I’m looking forward to learning about different cultures and teaching methods here."