Ciení Rodríguez Troche, former secretary of Puerto Rico’s Department of the Family, could not confirm whether she met with NOLA Education to discuss implementing the Star Academy program during the previous administration, as the company told the Puerto Rico Senate in its report. According to the company, the initiative did not move forward because the project was not followed up.
I believe we are at a point of no return.
"I would be lying if I said I never met with them, and two, being totally honest, I don’t remember," she said. She added: "I would be lying if I said I remember meeting with them. I don’t rule it out because hundreds of proposals arrive daily from many people interested in showing their projects."
Her comments come amid controversy surrounding current Family secretary Suzane Roig Fuertes and NOLA Education over expenses the company says it covered during the official’s trip to Louisiana to see the program. The trip is under scrutiny because the government projects awarding the company a $38.5 million contract. Rodríguez Troche, now in private practice, said it is not prudent to visit a place by invitation without knowing what is being offered.
She said Family Department employees told her the agency is paralyzed and that some action should be taken. "I believe we are at a point of no return. It is a decision that is hers and one she should weigh seriously," she said.
NOLA Education’s report says the first approach to present Star Academy aimed to offer an educational alternative to Puerto Rican students whose studies were interrupted by Hurricanes Irma and María in 2017, the 2020 southwest earthquakes and the COVID-19 pandemic.