Report Long Island: Hempstead Failed to Properly Enroll, Place Immigrant Students
The Hempstead Union Free School District, amid an influx of undocumented minors arriving from Mexico and Central America, failed to properly enroll immigrant students and place them at the beginning of the school year, according to a report released Wednesday.
The report, based on two visits to the district by the New York State Education Department’s Office of Bilingual Education and Foreign Language Studies, found that enrollment staff was not properly trained to review foreign transcripts and provide credits to new students from other countries, and discovered that the “vast majority” of new Hempstead High School students were placed in the 9th Grade regardless of the content on their transcript and how many years of schooling they previously completed.
The review also revealed that at least 17 new students were enrolled in the high school at the beginning of the school year but were not given schedules until a so-called “transition school,” or “Annex” opened Oct. 22. The school district has until Dec. 3 to address the state’s findings.
Along with the state’s report, Nassau BOCES, at the request of State Education Department Commissioner John King Jr., released its own review, detailing how five of eight students received continuous education in their home country but were still classified as “Students with Interrupted Formal Education” (SIFE). Also, six of eight students interviewed said they did not receive bilingual evaluations “within the regulatory time period.”
King directed Nassau BOCES to conduct an investigation after it was reported that at least 34 immigrant youths weren’t provided an education due to what the district said was overcrowded classrooms. In late October, the DOE, New York State Attorney General’s office and Board of Regents announced a joint review of school districts’ enrollment policies regarding undocumented students and unaccompanied minors.
http://www.longislandpress.com/2014/11/13/report-hempstead-failed-to-properly-enroll-place-immigrant-students/
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