Schools scramble to help teens who crossed border

WTOP News
9/29/14
KIMBERLY HEFLING
AP Education Writer

In this photo taken Sept. 11, 2014, a student in the Accelerating Preliterate English Language Learners (A.P.E.L.L) class, taught by Lori Ott, of Millsboro, Del., at the G.W. Career Educational Center in Frankford, Del., looks over a worksheet aimed at teaching basic introductions in English. U.S. schools are now dealing with the fallout from the dramatic spike in the number of children and teenagers who crossed into the United States unaccompanied by family; the Supreme Court has ruled that they have an obligation to educate all students regardless of their immigration status. (AP Photo/Emily Varisco)

FRANKFORD, Del. (AP) -- American schools are scrambling to provide services to the large number of children and teenagers who crossed the border alone in recent months.

Unaccompanied minors who made up the summer spike at the border have moved to communities of all sizes, in nearly every state, Federal data indicates, to live with a relative and await immigration decisions. The Supreme Court has ruled that schools have an obligation to educate all students regardless of their immigration status, so schools have become a safe haven for many of the tens of thousands of these young people mostly from central America living in limbo.

Delaware's rural Sussex County has long attracted immigrants, partly because of work in chicken factories, and soybean and corn fields. The district's population is more than one-quarter Hispanic, and for years has offered an early learning program for non-English speakers.

Still, officials were caught off guard by about 70 new students mostly from Guatemala -- part of the wave crossing the border -- enrolling last year, mostly at Sussex Central High School. The Indian River School District over the summer break quickly put together special classes for those needing extra English help.

On a recent school day, a group of these mostly Spanish-speaking teenage boys with styled spiky hair and high-top sneakers enthusiastically pecked away on hand-held tablets at the G.W. Carver Education Center, pausing to alert the teacher when stumped.

"If you don't know what you're supposed to write on the line, look at my examples, OK?" Lori Ott, their English language teacher, told one.

The students are eager but face barriers. Some can barely read or write in their native language.
The district's goal is to get them assimilated -- and eventually into a regular high school. There, they can earn a diploma, even if that means participating in adult education programs and going to school until they are 21.