Boston — Gov. Charlie Baker Monday filed a supplemental budget bill that will provide additional education funding for districts supporting students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands who have come to Massachusetts following hurricanes Maria and Irma.
This bill fulfills the commitment made by the Baker-Polito administration to seek additional funding for school districts that have enrolled significant numbers of evacuee students and will include $15 million in fiscal year 2018 supplemental local aid, which is in addition to the $15 million included in the administration’s FY 2019 budget proposal that was filed last week.
As of last week, approximately 2,400 students from Puerto Rico had enrolled in the Commonwealth’s schools.
“The Commonwealth has welcomed hundreds of families in the wake of these devastating storms and this important funding will provide crucial support for our schools,” said Baker. “Most of us cannot begin to imagine what these families have been through, and the Commonwealth will continue to provide necessary support to help our fellow Americans from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
“In putting together our FY19 budget proposal, we prioritized funding for the districts that took in large numbers of evacuees, and total funding of $30 million over two years will go a long way to supporting these students,” said Michael J. Heffernan, the secretary of administration and finance. “We look forward to working with the Legislature to pass this important funding.”
The administration continues to coordinate hurricane evacuee assistance efforts across state agencies and works daily with the Commonwealth’s 22 Family Resource Centers and other community-based organizations and centers to help evacuees register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster benefits and provide critical case management support to individuals and families impacted by Hurricane Maria.
