The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Schools in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands close ahead of Hurricane Dorian

Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Maria, which decimated the island’s school system two years ago

August 28, 2019 at 8:28 p.m. EDT
Tropical Storm Dorian, shown in an image taken Tuesday, intensified to a hurricane Wednesday. (NOAA via AP)

Schools in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands closed Wednesday as they braced for Hurricane Dorian, a storm that threatens to wreak more havoc on the island territories that saw extensive damage from Hurricane Maria.

Dorian intensified from a tropical storm to a hurricane Wednesday afternoon as it passed over the Virgin Islands. It appeared to spare Puerto Rico on Wednesday and pelted the U.S. Virgin Islands with rain. Officials in Florida were also watching the storm closely, but no schools there had closed in advance of Dorian. Forecasters said the storm had the potential to grow to a Category 3 storm before reaching the mainland United States.

The storm represents the first major test for the Caribbean communities since Hurricane Maria, which caused unprecedented damage on the islands and resulted in thousands of deaths when it landed in 2017.

Puerto Rico’s public schools serve about 300,000 children, making it one of the largest school systems in the United States. The U.S. Virgin Islands school system serves a little more than 10,000 students. Officials in Puerto Rico announced that schools and government offices will be open Thursday.

Danette Quiñones, a school principal in Rio Grande, east of San Juan, said the storm had the potential to churn up bad memories for students who survived Hurricane Maria.

“We get nervous,” said Quiñones, shortly before the lights went out at her home. Before Hurricane Maria, she oversaw a high school of about 300 students. But the decline in student population led the school system to consolidate the high school with an intermediate school. The new school, serving children from sixth to 12th grade, has only about 400 students.

In some municipalities, schools were serving as refuges for people seeking to escape the storm’s wrath.

Dorian intensifies to a hurricane over U.S. Virgin Islands and is a growing threat to Southeast U.S.

Puerto Rico’s education system has struggled for years, hit first by an economic crisis that forced it to shutter many of schools. Hurricane Maria wrought damage on school buildings, leaving some children out of class for weeks or months. And thousands of schoolchildren left the island after the storm, seeking a more stable education. Their teachers followed, many of them fleeing damage and chasing higher pay.

More recently, Julia Keleher, former head of the island’s education department, was arrested on federal corruption charges along with several others. The arrests, along with the publication of vulgar chats between former governor Ricardo Rosselló and his cabinet, helped propel massive protests that led to Rosselló's resignation.