Puerto Rico Senate Vice President Carmelo Ríos called for Family Department Secretary Suzanne Roig Fuertes to resign over the failed contract with NOLA Education and other controversies at the agency. In an interview on the program Pegaos en la Mañana, Ríos said more documentation keeps surfacing against what she says publicly, and that when the people she works with say her statements are untrue, "your governing body gets demoralized."
Senator Juan Oscar Morales, alternate majority spokesperson, has also demanded her exit and this week asked the Senate to give the department 48 hours, under threat of contempt, to hand over information on the contract. Former Socioeconomic Development Administration (ADSEF) administrator Blanca Medina Díaz, dismissed on September 28, testified under oath that Roig Fuertes pressured her to sign a $38.5 million federal TANF contract with Louisiana-based NOLA Education, which runs the Star Academy program.
The company registered in Puerto Rico on December 10, 2025; the contract was never signed. Coccoloba AgroEnvironmental says it never submitted a proposal. The Justice Department’s Public Integrity Division and federal inspectors general are investigating.
Documents also show ADSEF weighed paying NOLA in advance; the department says it was an internal exchange in which Roig Fuertes did not take part and no payment was authorized. Former Arecibo regional director Blanca García Sostre filed a $1.35 million lawsuit alleging workplace harassment. Roig Fuertes has defended her record, saying the investigations do not affect services and that the lawsuit’s allegations were already investigated internally.