Puerto Rico will close a quarter of all public schools on the island ahead of the 2018-2019 academic year due to lower enrollment in the wake of last year’s hurricanes, the U.S. territory’s Department of Education announced late Thursday.
Government documents said 828 schools will remain open, while 283 will close over the summer. The decision was made in response to a significant drop in enrollment in the seven months since Hurricane Maria devastated the island in September.
About 12 percent of last year’s 319,000 enrolled students have left the island due to long recovery efforts and economic hardship. Around half of all schools are at 60 percent capacity.
“The new budget of the Department of Education for the next school year ensures the possibility of offering the resources needed by students keeping open the schools really necessary after a reduction of 38,762 students since May 2017,” the department’s press release stated, according to an unofficial translation.
Comunicado escuelas abiertas 2018-2019 pic.twitter.com/QGdFgBg9bq
— Dpto. de Educación (@EDUCACIONPR) April 5, 2018
Education Secretary Julia Keleher said the plan will save the government $150 million. She also vowed no teachers or employees will be laid off, and will instead be moved to other nearby schools.
“We know it’s a difficult and painful process,” Keleher said in a statement. “Our children deserve the best education that we are capable of giving them taking into account Puerto Rico’s fiscal reality.”
About 135,000 people have left Puerto Rico since late last summer.
