Schools see no drain of kids
BY ANDREA EGER AND NORA FROESCHLE World Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
10/30/07 at 11:33 AM
Watch a slide show and read all the stories in a series on the immigration of thousands of people from Casa Blanca to Tulsa.
Read all of the Tulsa World’s coverage of House Bill 1804.
Administrators wait
to see whether a new
law targeting illegal
immigrants cuts
enrollments.
Principals at Tulsa-area schools
are reporting
the loss of only
a small number
of Hispanic students in recent
days due to
House Bill
1804.
Many school
officials said
only time will
tell whether
the new state law, which is to take
effect Thursday, will send more
families on the run, causing more
significant drops in enrollment
At Disney Elementary School in
east Tulsa, which has one of the
largest percentages of Hispanic
students in the district, 48 percent,
Principal Louis Galluzzi said one
girl told him that Friday was her
last day there.
"They were moving back to Mexico," Galluzzi said. "With 825
students total, that's just a
drop in the bucket. But I
know there are some nerves
out there. People are concerned. I think most everyone is taking a wait-and-see
approach."
Skelly Elementary School
Principal Mike Howe echoed
those sentiments.
"I hear rumors that this
family or that family are going
to leave, but so far, it's not
happening at Skelly," he said.
"Of course, it hasn't gone into
effect yet. We'll see what happens in the next month if people start getting arrested.
Who knows?"
Skelly, 2940 S. 90th East
Ave., has about 600 students,
with about 30 percent of them
Hispanic.
Judy Feary, the principal at
Kendall-Whittier Elementary
School, said its enrollment
was down about 50 to 100 students -- Hispanic and others
-- from its normal total as of
Oct. 1. The school's student
population is 55.4 percent
Hispanic.
Myriam Puleo, a parent liaison for Union Public Schools,
said she had talked with a
handful of parents who were
concerned about what HB
1804 would mean for them.
Puleo said she was translating Friday for the mother of a
Union student, and when the
topic of Early Head Start or
Parents as Teachers making
home visits came up, so did
the new law.
"She was hesitant, because
she really did not know if
she's going to be here or not.
I think in other circumstances she would have said,
'Great,' but she was hesitant
because she was thinking
about whether to go back or
not," Puleo said.
The woman has a child
with a disability, Puleo said,
adding that she believes the
mother is concerned that her
child would not receive the
same education and services
in her home country.
Another mother recently
called Puleo to say that her
husband had been deported.
"She lives in fear that she's
going to be stopped and deported," Puleo said.
Generally speaking, however, Puleo said, immigrants
view the school system as a
safe place, and those who are
anchored in the area likely
will keep their children in
school.
"I think the implication that
they are sensing is mostly the
men at the employment level.
They're looking at the practical side of this: Will they be
able to work and find housing?" she said.
Keith Isbell, a spokesman
for Broken Arrow Public
Schools, said the district had
not had any decrease in Hispanic enrollment so far this
school year.
"We've got roughly 100
more kids who speak English
as a second language than
last year," he said.
The law will not change the
district's prime directive, he
said. "Federal statutes require us to educate children
living in our school district,"
he said.
Isbell did say that the district altered school identification badges in response to the
law. The badges now say,
"Badge valid only for employee identification in Broken
Arrow Public Schools."
Susan Oare, the principal at
Jenks East Elementary
School, said she had not seen
a decrease in enrollment
there, and she is not sure that
she would know of such a
drop in advance anyway.
"I don't think that they
would tell us if they're going
to leave. They're not going to
tell us in advance would be
my guess," she said. "And it
does not really affect our business, because we will continue to educate the children
that come to us."
Sherri Fair, the principal of
the Union district's Boevers
Elementary School in east
Tulsa, said she believed four
students have left her school
because of the legislation.
"I've had just a couple of
families who've mentioned it
as they were leaving, yes,"
she said. "I think most of
what I've heard is wait and
watch. I haven't seen a panic
like a mass exodus, and our
fall enrollment was not down
at all."
About 30 percent of Boevers' students are Hispanic,
she said.
World staff writer Sara Plummer
contributed to this story.
Andrea Eger 581-8470
andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com
Nora Froeschle 581-8310
nora.froeschle@tulsaworld.com
