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Palm Beach County School District welcomes Bahamian students

Posted at 7:43 PM, Sep 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-18 17:56:21-04

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — As Hurricane Dorian evacuees from the Bahamas set foot in Palm Beach County, the school district is working to make sure students don’t have to worry about continuing their education.

SPECIAL COVERAGE: Bahamas After Dorian

As of Monday, the Palm Beach County School District has enrolled six Bahamian evacuee students. According to district staff, students will be placed into schools based on where they are sheltering.

For students without documentation of immunizations, Palm Beach County schools are able to waive those requirements for 30 days while the district works to get records up to date. The end goal is to get the evacuated students a sense of normalcy, according to Deputy Superintendent Keith Oswald.

“They need to get back to being safe they need to get back to being around kids around their age, they need to be around a teacher, they need structure they need that support and they also need the counselors,” says Oswald

Martin and St Lucie County Schools both say they have not enrolled any Bahamian evacuee students yet.

Bahamian families who are expecting to be in Palm Beach County for the long-term are asked to call the following number to get their children registered for school: 561-434-8197

The Welcome Center for families is located in the E building at the school district headquarters on 3300 Forrest Hill Blvd in West Palm Beach.

On Wednesday, an immunization bus will be on-site to assist families. Please call the number for further details.