South Florida schools may be reimbursed for Haitian evacuee

 

By Rafael A. Olmeda and Marc Freeman

Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties are closer to being reimbursed millions of dollars for taking in nearly 2,800 Haitian children evacuated after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced Monday.

She said the U.S. House of Representatives had approved an emergency spending measure that, among other things, repays Florida school districts approximately $12 million for taking in 3,700 students for half a year without asking for money upfront. The measure is being considered by the U.S. Senate this week.

In April, the state estimated it would cost $23.8 million to educate the additional students for a full year: Broward took in 1,077 students at an estimated annual cost of nearly $7 million; Miami-Dade took in 1,106 students at an estimated cost of just over $7 million; and Palm Beach County took in 599 students at an estimated cost of nearly $4 million.

In addition to the basic educational costs, the districts had to pay for transportation, translation, curriculum support and other services.

“We need these dollars desperately,” said Broward Schools Superintendent Jim Notter.

When the earthquake hit in January and the students were flown over, he said, “we did not ask for the dollars first.”

Notter said decisions about what to do with the reimbursed money would be premature, but added it would seem fair to get the money directly to the schools that absorbed the new students in the first place.

The Palm Beach County School District served about 600 Haitian evacuees last school year. But only about 300 were part of an official enrollment count in February used for funding purposes.

A full year of educating 600 students would generate about $4 million in state funds, said district Chief Financial Officer Michael Burke.

“We managed to serve the students without adding teachers,” Burke said of the expenses for the district, which has not sought reimbursement. “We accommodated them with existing teachers and classrooms.”

The district would be able to apply for reimbursement if the bill were to pass.

“America rallied to Haiti’s call for aid,” said Wasserman Schultz, D- Weston, speaking at Miramar High School, which took in 46 Haitian students, more than any other single school in South Florida.

She said it would be unfair for Florida’s public education system to bear the financial burden as it struggled with teacher layoffs and program cuts due to budget shortfalls.

Wasserman Schultz, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said she pushed to reimburse the school districts when she realized President Obama’s Emergency Supplemental Funding request for expenses related to the Haiti earthquake did not address the financial burdens borne by the public education system.

“If ever there was a time to do the right thing at the right time for the right reason, it is now,” said Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.