MIAMI – The country’s third largest school district is absorbing thousands of new students surpassing, in some cases, figures from previous year amid an ongoing, historic migrant surge in South Florida.
For Miami-Dade Public Schools, migrants from Cuba make up the largest increase in enrollment, according to newly released figures.
“The schools have capacity and we’re able to provide support,” said Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Jose Dotres, who described a three-tier system for dealing with the influx and added the district is only using tier one.
As of Jan. 10, the school district has absorbed 7,587 students of Cuban origin this school year. Compared to last school year, that is more than half the amount when records show 2,977 students of Cuban origin were enrolled in schools.
“We’ve been through this before,” Dotres said of previous migration waves that have changed and shaped Miami’s history.
Dotres himself enrolled in Miami-Dade Public Schools as a Cuban migrant when he was a boy.
“I identify with those kids,” he said Tuesday.
Dotres pointed out a significant number of newly arrived students are enrolling at the middle and high school level so given their age, schools have to really focus on making sure they quickly learn English.
“These students are arriving and attending schools predominantly in the Hialeah area,” Dotres said, but he pointed out demographics in other areas, like Allapattah, are also shifting.
Dotres believes it’s possibly because those areas are more economical, given the ongoing housing crisis in South Florida, specifically in Miami-Dade County.
Last Wednesday, Dotres and his staff briefed members of the school board on the ongoing migrant situation and its effects on the public school system.
His staff pointed to numbers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, as those are the four countries with significant migration and migrants from those countries now qualify for a new immigration policy under President Joe Biden.
Miami-Dade School figures show students of Nicaraguan origin are the second largest group following Cubans.
As of Jan. 10, 1,045 students of Nicaraguan origin had enrolled in Miami-Dade Schools. In the 2021-2022 school year, there were 1,374 Nicaraguan students enrolled.
So far, 905 students of Venezuelan origin have enrolled this year. Last school year, Venezuelans made up a significant amount of new student enrollment with 2,597.
Among the four countries, students of Haitian decent make up the smallest figure with 398 enrolled so far this year and 488 total who enrolled last school year.
“We’re going to have more ESE students that are going to be in need of assistance…more ESOL students that are going to be in need of assistance,” said School Board Chair Mari Tere Rojas at the Jan. 11 meeting.
Rojas, a former teacher and principal, highlighted the need for teachers a time there is a shortage across the country.
Dotres did not shy away from discussing the financial need given they’ll need more funding for transportation, food services and instructional materials.
“The pattern is one that appears to be decreasing,” Dotres said of the enrollment numbers regarding newly arrived migrant children.
He added there is no way of knowing whether the trend will continue.