Hundreds of migrant families continue to flood enrollment centers every day with hopes of getting their kids into city public schools by the start of classes next week.
More than 60 migrant students and their parents showed up daily last week to enroll at each of the busiest Department of Education Welcome Centers, on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica and Queens Plaza North in Long Island City.
With 12 enrollment center across the city, more than 400 new students are enrolling citywide on a given day, insiders estimate.
That does not count those registered at dozens of migrant shelters, where DOE workers are being paid overtime to go and enroll kids.
“It’s a disaster,” one enrollment staffer said of the hardest-hit centers. “Nothing is going smoothly.”
One frustrated principal griped that no plans are being communicated to staff. “I mean, there’s a plan from me, but not one from the DOE.”
In a message to enrollment workers on Friday, Trevonda Kelly, first deputy in the Office of Student Enrollment, acknowledged the “increase in the number of families,” but urged, “Please don’t put much focus on long lines. Instead, keep doing what you’re doing to keep the lines moving.”
This coming week will likely be the busiest one yet, Kelly added in the internal message, obtained by The Post.
The busiest center is on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica, where staff can’t keep up with the volume of people coming in plus calls and emails, sources said. There are 20 to 25 people on staff including temporary workers, retirees and teachers.
An employee at that location told The Post that staffing is “adequate” compared to other sites, but if it was enough, there wouldn’t be a line outside every day.
And some families in shelters and without access to technology may not know which school their child has been assigned to, he added.
“They’re not getting answers elsewhere, so they all rush here for answers.”
Mirian Tenezaca and her family, who arrived last month from Ecuador, visited Long Island City on Wednesday to find out what school her son, Juan David, 10, is supposed to attend.
They left without knowing.
“They tell us nothing,” Tenezaca told The Post. “We hope that they will call us.”
Another recently arrived mother from Ecuador told The Post that her children were assigned schools far away from each other and it would be impossible for her to coordinate pickup and drop-off — and find work as well.
“It is remote from where I live and I want it closer so I can look for a job,” the mom of three said.
