teach1st
08-10-2005, 04:33 AM
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-locvundoc10081005aug10,0,7065364.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-volusia
María Ordoņez went to register her teenage daughter and son at an Orange County middle school, hoping they would get a first-rate education, but instead they were threatened with deportation.
Ordoņez, her husband and two children returned Tuesday to Glenridge Middle School, joined by advocacy group Latino Leadership and surrounded by a swarm of mostly Spanish-language media. School officials, however, said it was all a misunderstanding.
The children were referred to Lee Middle School, where they will start school today, because Glenridge lacks a bilingual program.
Still, the Ordoņezes and the advocacy group were not happy with the way they say the school -- straddling the higher-income neighborhoods of Baldwin Park and Winter Park -- treated the family last week. Even Gov. Jeb Bush chimed in, commenting that schools should not be concerned with immigration status.
"Saying this was a misunderstanding is an easy way to get out of an embarrassing situation," Latino Leadership President Marytza Sanz said.
The allegations come months after the state Department of Education faulted Orange County's public schools because of the way the district dealt with its immigrant students. After investigating 21 schools, the state this spring ordered the district to stop asking for immigrant-status documentation because it violates federal civil-rights laws.
Ordoņez said school officials asked her to provide proof of address, and, when she returned to the school Friday with appropriate documentation, staff had an officer from the Orlando Police Department talk to her about the family's immigration status.
"They put me in a room where they told me that they could deport me with the children right at that moment," Ordoņez said in Spanish. "They were treating me as if I had committed some sort of crime."
Read more (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-locvundoc10081005aug10,0,7065364.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-volusia)
María Ordoņez went to register her teenage daughter and son at an Orange County middle school, hoping they would get a first-rate education, but instead they were threatened with deportation.
Ordoņez, her husband and two children returned Tuesday to Glenridge Middle School, joined by advocacy group Latino Leadership and surrounded by a swarm of mostly Spanish-language media. School officials, however, said it was all a misunderstanding.
The children were referred to Lee Middle School, where they will start school today, because Glenridge lacks a bilingual program.
Still, the Ordoņezes and the advocacy group were not happy with the way they say the school -- straddling the higher-income neighborhoods of Baldwin Park and Winter Park -- treated the family last week. Even Gov. Jeb Bush chimed in, commenting that schools should not be concerned with immigration status.
"Saying this was a misunderstanding is an easy way to get out of an embarrassing situation," Latino Leadership President Marytza Sanz said.
The allegations come months after the state Department of Education faulted Orange County's public schools because of the way the district dealt with its immigrant students. After investigating 21 schools, the state this spring ordered the district to stop asking for immigrant-status documentation because it violates federal civil-rights laws.
Ordoņez said school officials asked her to provide proof of address, and, when she returned to the school Friday with appropriate documentation, staff had an officer from the Orlando Police Department talk to her about the family's immigration status.
"They put me in a room where they told me that they could deport me with the children right at that moment," Ordoņez said in Spanish. "They were treating me as if I had committed some sort of crime."
Read more (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-locvundoc10081005aug10,0,7065364.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-volusia)