In Puerto Rico, the vice president of the National Union of Educators and Education Workers (UNETE), Teacher Migdalia Santiago, denounced on Friday that the Department of Education (DE) plans to build a new school in the spaces of the Miguel Such Vocational School in San Juan. Santiago confirmed this information after a meeting with other educators and the head of the security area at the agency.
According to Santiago, the director of the security area at the DE told teachers at her school that there is a serious security problem, and that the school will be demolished and a new one built. Santiago expressed concern about the safety of the over 600 students, who are currently supervised by only one guard in an area of approximately 17 cuerdas, a land measure of about 16.49 acres.
She also mentioned that the Department of Education’s priorities do not include the security or education of the country’s children, and previously reflected on the Oversight Board’s (JSF) allegations of a $13 million deficit in the budget for charter school management. The plans for demolishing the current structure and building a new one have no known start date.