By The Star Staff
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia described the start of classes in Puerto Rico’s public schools as “successful” during a visit to Rabanal Elementary School in Aibonito on Monday, where he was accompanied by Education Secretary Yanira Raíces Vega.
Although 18 schools were unable to operate due to a lack of water and others due to power problems, the governor expressed satisfaction with the progress he observed.
“I believe once again that this is a successful restart of school,” Pierluisi said at a press conference. “Now the important thing is that the semester continues without further pauses or distractions.”
The governor emphasized that 99% of teachers have been recruited, which he considered a significant achievement compared to previous years.
“The vast majority of teachers, that is, 99 percent, are recruited, something that was not seen in the past,” he said.
Pierluisi added that the necessary materials for the students have been provided and that school directors already have debit cards to purchase whatever they need. Regarding the physical state of the schools, the governor noted that more than 90 percent are properly painted, while acknowledging that the sealing of roofs is behind schedule.
Regarding service interruptions, Pierluisi said 18 schools were unable to open due to a lack of water service, but he gave assurances that the problems would be resolved in the next few hours.
In addition, seven schools remain closed due to major reconstruction work.
“Today, 96% of the [school] population has their electricity and water service at this time,” the governor said, adding that he hopes all schools will be operating before Wednesday.
Raíces Vega noted that “50 or so schools” [...] “already have a reduced schedule and we have an action plan that was discussed yesterday.”
“I was in meetings with both regional directors and school directors where we put together an action plan, so saying that those 50 or so schools are not in [session] is not correct,” she said. “By the way, when I came here, those 50 or so already started to go down [in number] because they told me [that] the light came on, [and] we already have water service established, which is something dynamic. So I have a meeting today at noon. I return again and monitor at night. I personally am monitoring, I am having conversations with both LUMA and PRASA [the island water authority], so [...] we hope that service can be fully restored this week, as such, but we have action plans.”
The governor added that “[s]ome people will want to criticize because that has always been the fashion here, criticism.”
“But the important thing is that we are doing the work and I congratulate the secretary of education, the director of this school, everyone, all the staff of the Department of Education because they gave their all and the results have been seen,” Pierluisi said.
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