At this moment, more than 17,000 immigrant children and adolescents New arrivals who live in the municipal shelter system, the vast majority coming from the Caribbean and South America, have the complete security of a desk in the 1,800 public schools of New York City, which almost none of them are aware of, is whether they should change their accommodation in the coming weeks or months.
Currently, thousands of immigrants are weighed by the possibility that in the coming months, They receive a notification indicating that they must apply for a new shelterwhich will not necessarily remain in the same county where they are enrolled, due to the rule that limits the stay of newly arrived families in shelters to 60 days.
As described Nicole Brownstein, spokesman for the New York City Department of Education (DOE) Open Arms Project which was created in 2022, means a great challenge and a coordinated effort between different municipal agencies, to support new students who are staying in temporary housing.
Faced with this monumental challenge of relocating families, which could even become more acute after the winter, the City is considering connecting students with campuses that are “reasonably distanced” from shelters. In addition to offering in this process, which for many is a transition, all possible multilingual resources.
“For elementary and middle school age students, we comply with the McKinney-Vento Act, which states that students in temporary housing have the right to be placed in their zoned school. If there are no seats available at nearby zoned schools, we are being strategic by placing students at equidistant schools with open seating, that also meet the needs of our students,” confirms Brownstein.
This process includes help with school registration and access to mental health programs.
More teachers in Spanish
They also continue to refine the multiple programs to support students learning English, with more than 3,400 licensed ESL teachers. And more than 1,700 certified bilingual teachers who speak Spanish.
“Translation efforts have been made to support families with services and we have support so that students have interrupted formal educationincluding educational guidance and resource exchange programs for educators,” adds the DOE spokesperson.
“We must be grateful and adapt”
Since the spring of 2022, when thousands of families began to arrive looking for a better life, also in that aspiration, the desire was in “capital letters” of a better education for children, who fled different humanitarian crises. But also the obstacles of having a school system that would allow them to dream.
The Venezuelan Claudia Vásquez, 32 years old, is just an example of this. The immigrant has lived in a shelter in the South Bronx since last summer. She assures that “she will sacrifice anything” so that her 8-year-old little girl, who has some psychomotor and learning problems, can progress in school, where, as she herself says, was received with “open arms”.
“Sadly in my country She had to choose between paying the fare to take the girl to school or feeding her. Both things could not be done at the same time.. The last two years, she just didn’t go to school. That’s why in the room where she arrived here in the Bronx, she is the biggest,” says Claudia.
The South American immigrant, who is also a single mother, attests that her little girl was received with support that she will never forget: “She loves going to school, even though she doesn’t understand most of the children and neither does the classes. She now says she wants to be a teacher too. And even though we don’t have a stable home today. And our life is faltering in many ways. The only thing that moves me is that she can get ahead with education.”
Claudia says that if she must relocate from the place where she is staying, she will do so without causing problems because she is convinced that the City, It cannot “mathematically” adapt to the needs of each family.
“There are thousands of us. It is on the part of thousands of immigrants to try to collaborate as much as possible. I already know of families who have moved from shelters and have had to go to school nearby. And others that are far away, but they resolve. Others decided to go to another city. What I can assure you is that there is the intention to help and that the children follow their classes.”, interprets the South American immigrant.
NYC School Demographics:
- 72.8% of students of NYC public schools is struggling financially.
- 20.9% has a disability.
- 14.1% of students do not speak English.
2024-02-20 11:00:00
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