DE secretary expresses concern at warning tone from fiscal board director.

By THE STAR STAFF

Financial Oversight and Management Board Executive Director Robert Mujica has ordered Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos Parés -- via letter -- to submit all regulations pertaining to internal organizational policies and school operations.

“Including, among others, student-to-teacher and staff-to-student ratios, class size limits, safety requirements, campus maintenance standards, the operation of charter schools, occupational and technical program offerings, the operation of Montessori schools, the operation of specialized schools, special education services, staffing models, schedules, and other academic and operational directives,” states the letter sent by Mujica to Ramos Parés on April 27.

“The Board requests that the DEPR [Puerto Rico Department of Education] identify and submit -- no later than May 18, 2026 -- all policies addressing the aforementioned matters, as well as any other policy with a fiscal impact that has been internally approved or implemented without following the procedures established in the Regulation Review Policy,” the document adds. “The submission must include, among other things, documentation of approval and implementation, pertinent fiscal analyses (estimated and actual), the legal and operational justification for adoption, and an explanation as to why the DEPR did not submit the policies to the Oversight Board in accordance with PROMESA [the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act] and the Regulation Review Policy.” 

Ramos Parés responded on Thursday, noting that “[t]he record clearly demonstrates that the Department of Education has maintained constant and transparent communication with the Board.”

“We have participated in regular meetings, responded to requests for information, and shared documentation related to the Department’s operational and fiscal processes,” he stated. “The Department has been consistent in providing information and maintaining a technical dialogue with the Board. Therefore, we are deeply concerned that an impression of a lack of transparency is being publicly projected -- one that does not align with the actual history of communication and collaboration between the two entities.”

“The school organization process has been regulated since 2020 and constitutes part of the ordinary administrative mechanisms designed to ensure the proper functioning of the educational system,” Ramos Parés added. “To suggest that hidden or undisclosed policies with fiscal implications have been implemented lacks context and does not reflect the reality of the process.”