NYC officials give update on "Project Open Arms" plan to educate thousands of migrant children
NEW YORK -- Tuesday morning in the Bronx, city and education leaders gathered to provide an update on how the New York City school system is handling the influx of asylum-seeking students as more than 5,000 migrant children have been placed in schools throughout the city so far this school year.
CBS2's Zinnia Maldonado reports that leaders are changing in their approach to help not only thesefamilies, but teachers and staff.
"Every child has a right to a high quality public school education," said Schools Chancellor David Banks.
That's the reason the city says it launched Project Open Arms, a program to help migrants navigate the public school system and provide resources such as language support and school supplies.
Since the start of the school year, the Department of Education says some schools have struggled handling the influx in students which is why it's now providing even more resources than before.
Also new, the launch of borough response teams. The goal is local borough leaders, teachers and volunteers to organize food and clothing drives, resource fairs and focus groups.
"We are now formulating a Bronx borough operation, meeting weekly with parents and leadership to identify challenges and new ideas," said Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson.
Education leaders gave the update at PS 16 Wakefield in the Bronx. The school successfully integrated 36 asylum-seeking students this year.
"As families began coming In, our community pivoted to provide as much support as possible. We have families in need looking to educate their children and also with a need for food and clothing," said Principal Latanya Gray.
As of this weekend, the estimated number of asylum seekers in New York City surpassed 18,000. Of that, around 5,500 are children who have entered the city schools. And with that number expected to slowly grow, leaders say the work isn't over yet.
"If we think about the level of trauma these young people have gone through just to get here, this is when America gets to stand and New York gets to represent everything we're about," Banks said.
"We acted and these are the fruits of our labor, and we know much more work needs to be done," Gibson said.
And the DOE adds it's looking for parent volunteers as well as community leaders to team up with school staff in launching those borough response teams.
