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As Expected, Public Schools In New England See Increase In Number Of Puerto Rican Students

Government and nonprofit leaders in Holyoke, Mass., gathered to prepare for the expected arrival of people from Puerto Rico.
Jill Kaufman
/
NEPR
Government and nonprofit leaders in Holyoke, Mass., gathered to prepare for the expected arrival of people from Puerto Rico.

After two devastating hurricanes in September, many Puerto Ricans are relocating to New England to stay with family or friends.

In Hartford, Connecticut, 54 new students from Puerto Rico have enrolled.

In the state's second-largest school district -- Springfield, Massachusetts -- 101 new students have arrived. 

In Worcester, Massachusetts, 73 new students from Puerto Rico have been enrolled since the hurricanes.

An abandoned school in Maricao, Puerto Rico, that's being used as a shelter.
Credit Ryan Caron King / WNPR
/
WNPR
An abandoned school in Maricao, Puerto Rico, that's being used as a shelter.

A district spokesperson in Worcester said community service agencies in the city have been hearing that more families will be arriving toward the end of November, when airfares go down.

More are likely to come, said Springfield assistant superintendent Lydia Martinez-Alvarez.

"The only thing is, all the students are coming without the funding," she said. "Ensuring we have teachers to teach them, that is the only challenge we have right now."

Springfield is asking the state of Massachusetts for additional per-pupil funding.

So is Holyoke, which has 25 new students from the island. A spokesperson said at least 45 more are coming.

Correction: An earlier version of this story attributed a comment to a Springfield district spokesperson. It was a Worcester spokesperson.

Copyright 2017 New England Public Media

Jill has been reporting, producing features and commentaries, and hosting shows at NEPR since 2005. Before that she spent almost 10 years at WBUR in Boston, five of them producing PRI’s “The Connection” with Christopher Lydon. In the months leading up to the 2000 primary in New Hampshire, Jill hosted NHPR’s daily talk show, and subsequently hosted NPR’s All Things Considered during the South Carolina Primary weekend. Right before coming to NEPR, Jill was an editor at PRI's The World, working with station based reporters on the international stories in their own domestic backyards. Getting people to tell her their stories, she says, never gets old.

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