Teachers Assn. says conditions at schools are recognized, but more action needed

“The start of school must stop being a race against the clock,” Puerto Rico Teachers Association President Víctor Manuel Bonilla Sánchez said.

By The Star Staff

The Puerto Rico Teachers Association (AMPR by its initials in Spanish) and its Local Union presented on Thursday a detailed overview of the conditions of the public education system, and demanded concrete answers from the island Department of Education before the start of the new school year.

“The start of school must stop being a race against the clock,” AMPR President Víctor Manuel Bonilla Sánchez said at a press conference, accompanied by teachers active in the classroom. “We recognize that steps have begun to be taken in that direction, reflecting years of demands sustained by our organization. The voice of the teachers has been heard, and for the first time in a long time, we see an attempt at more structured planning.”

Bonilla Sánchez noted that this week, along with Local Union General Secretary Ángel Javier Pérez Hernández, he met with the Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos Parés and other agency personnel, including the directors of the Office for the Improvement of Public Schools and the Public Buildings Authority, to address the preparations for the start of school. “Our claim has forced a response,” Bonilla Sánchez said. “We have seen, at least on paper, a plan that aims to avoid the improvisation to which we were accustomed. In that meeting, we took advantage and took a list of schools that are still in unacceptable condition and there was a commitment to attend to them urgently.”

Among the schools pointed out by the union are the Villa Granada school in San Juan, with cracks in its walls; the Inés María Mendoza school in Comerío, which is in deteriorated condition; and the Elisa Dávila school in Vega Alta, with persistent electrical problems. The AMPR also questioned why schools in the island’s southern region such as Agripina Seda and Elsa E. Couto in Guánica, and José Onofre Torres in Yauco, continue to operate in temporary structures more than five years after the earthquakes.

Of the 675 schools visited by union coordinators, 451 do not have a functional electrical generator, 298 lack operational electrical substations, 264 do not have cisterns or the existing cisterns do not work, and 24 do not have fans. In addition, 117 schools do not have outdoor ballcourts or the existing “canchas” are closed, and in most of the schools the water fountains are out of service.

“Heat episodes become more intense each year, and certainly, not having the necessary resources to mitigate them significantly affects teachers’ working conditions and the teaching-learning process,” Bonilla Sánchez said.

The union’s general secretary insisted on the creation of school health and safety committees in each school.

“We refuse to wait for emergencies to occur to act,” Pérez Hernández said. “Every school needs a preventive plan and a trained team to protect our children and teachers in the event of any eventuality.”

He added that the committees must include teacher representation, have prevention and response protocols, and be integrated into the department’s and municipal plans.

Bonilla Sánchez also warned that the union will be vigilant to prevent classroom overcrowding.