For the first time in two decades, the Miami-Dade County public school system is growing, according to district officials.
That鈥檚 due in large part to the historic number of students who have moved into the district this year from other countries. Schools that had been under capacity for years are now seeing their classrooms fill up.
On a recent morning, Emelia Bruscantini鈥檚 classroom at Milam K-8 Center was calm and quiet, her students working diligently on math problems 鈥� some in English and some in Spanish.
鈥淲e just have one new [student] this week,鈥� Bruscantini said. 鈥淛ust came in Tuesday. Another one that came in last week, she went to the doctor to get her shots today.鈥�
The majority of the district鈥檚 new immigrant students are from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. A new Biden administration program allows people from those four countries to stay legally and work for two years 鈥� an effort to incentivize migrants to not make the to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
Over the course of this school year, 20,000 new immigrant students have enrolled in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, according to district data.
That's a much bigger influx of new students than the district saw immediately after Hurricane Maria 鈥� or after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
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鈥淪ome of these kids didn't know their ABCs in second grade,鈥� Bruscantini said. 鈥淩emember COVID 鈥� some of them in their own countries couldn't go to school. So we have to kind of go down to their level so that we can add skills to what they know. Because if not, they don't get the basics.鈥�
Schools address trauma, basic needs
Milam K-8 had been under-enrolled for a decade. This year, enrollment has hovered around 1,000 students 鈥� nearly at capacity.
Principal Anna Hernandez says she鈥檚 never seen a spike like this one.
鈥淗onestly 鈥� sometimes, I come into the lobby and there'll be 鈥� the families are all over the place. Just waiting,鈥� Hernandez said.
When families file into the front office at Milam, one of the first things they do is talk to a school counselor, like Lorena Liscano.
鈥淲e like to meet with the families and we like to get a little bit of a family history and kind of ask where are they living? What resources do they have? What resources do they need? And how can we help them?鈥� Liscano said.
Liscano said many of the new families at Milam don鈥檛 have a home of their own. Under , the school has to support students who qualify as homeless.
鈥淭hey can now get free breakfast, free lunch. They can get transportation. They can get school supplies, uniforms, clothing, groceries,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about their trauma. We鈥檙e discussing different things that they鈥檝e experienced, trying to help them cope with losses they鈥檝e had, with anxiety that they鈥檙e feeling.鈥�
Many of the new students are getting weekly counseling too, Liscano said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about their trauma,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e discussing different things that they鈥檝e experienced, trying to help them cope with losses they鈥檝e had, with anxiety that they鈥檙e feeling.鈥�
Principal Hernandez says the rivers and oceans her students crossed to get to South Florida are still washing over them.
鈥淚 was talking to a teacher the other day and she was telling me how one of her students was sitting to take a test. He just didn't seem like he was engaged at all. And then he started telling her how, when he was coming [to the U.S.], he had to go through a river. And it was almost like up to his face,鈥� Hernandez said. 鈥淪he was like, 'You know what, I can understand why he's not engaged in taking a test right now.'鈥�
Many of the new students simply need more support 鈥� at a time when the district was already struggling to hire enough teachers.
Miami-Dade seeks additional funding to support immigrant students
鈥淚t certainly puts a stress on our finances,鈥� said Ron Steiger, the school district鈥檚 Chief Financial Officer.
Steiger says the district was short changed $10 million dollars for these students. This school year, local officials went to Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. to lobby lawmakers for more support.
Since most of the students don't speak English as their native language, they should qualify for from the state. But there were so many, they exceeded the state's cap on how many English language learners a district can get extra money for. This session the Legislature that cap.
鈥淭he district is certainly prepared to deal with a lot of growth. We have the seats available,鈥� Steiger said. 鈥淧rior to the early 2000s, we had 125 years straight of growth.鈥�
While many of the new students need extra support, Steiger says they鈥檙e helping the district chart a new path forward 鈥� by increasing enrollment.
鈥淲e lost enrollment in our schools every single year for 20 straight years. But this year we didn鈥檛. This year we went up,鈥� Steiger said. 鈥淚f not for those [immigrant] students we probably would have gone down kids again. So it is absolutely one of the factors that is helping us see growth in our traditional schools again.鈥�
For Miami-Dade superintendent, the issue is personal
District officials say they鈥檙e ready and willing to welcome this latest generation of immigrant families. For many, the issue is personal.
鈥淚 was one of these kids that started at Citrus Grove Elementary with no English whatsoever,鈥� District Superintendent Jose Dotres told reporters.
Dotres was five years old when he came to Miami from Cuba. He went on to teach English to speakers of other languages in the same district where he first learned the language.
鈥淚 see myself in these students,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 see their parents as my parents so many years ago 鈥� but proud and confident that they鈥檙e entering a school district that knows how to support [them].鈥�
