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In-person education services offered to migrant teens in San Diego, sparking controversy

SAN DIEGO CONVENTION CENTER
Posted at 2:35 PM, Mar 31, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-31 16:35:37-04

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - The migrant teenagers that are staying at the San Diego Convention Center will be provided an in-person educational program. The decision is being met with frustration from parents and lawmakers, some who have been waiting over a year for students in California to return to in-person learning.

According to the San Diego County Office of Education, the educational program will include English language development and social-emotional learning opportunities.

In addition, teachers who participate in the program are doing so voluntarily, and the program will be following COVID-19 screening protocols based on CDC guidelines.

On Monday, Congressional Darrell Issa released a statement that said:

“For more than a year, parents and students in San Diego County have waited for educators to answer one question: When will our schools reopen with in-person instruction only? And for a year, they’ve been told to wait. The decision to provide in-person instruction to illegal migrants is outrageous, and parents have every right to be angry.”

"What I would say to everybody, is these are children who have come to us seeking us, and they’re children,” said Kathie Lembo, CEO of SBCS, formerly South Bay Community Services.

HHS has asked the organization to help the children with social services.

“And every one of us would want our children taken care of, whether or not they were in this country or another country,” she added.

This story originally reported by Anthony Pura on 10News.com.