After a virtual meeting, the Senate nomination committee advised not to give way to the appointment of Elba Aponte Santos as secretary of the Ministry of Education.
According to the report of the Commission to which Puerto Rico Metro gained access, the senators making up the body were left with some doubts after the interpellation hearing that the House of Representatives held against Aponte Santos in February.
According to the document, questions fluctuate between plans to relocate students to the southern part of Puerto Rico affected by the 2020 earthquakes and later the pandemic, the plan to reopen schools for the next school year, potential conflicts of interest, the measures taken by education will, among other things, prevent corruption and money theft.
Regarding the performance of the official at the hearing held by the Commission on April 5, the review explains that it did not address other issues such as special education, the plan for building modules for the earthquakes hit areas, the contracts awarded under his responsibility, the possible privatizations of schools, the supply of computers to students and teachers and the personal start of classes in the midst of the emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The chair of the nomination committee was unhappy with the nominee’s response to a series of concerns that parents and students have sent him over the past few weeks,” the report reads.
“Other senators were concerned about the department’s limited access of information to voters’ complaints in favor of the interests of their student children,” he continues.
On the other hand, the document alludes to an “ambiguous and vague follow-up plan” for the first 100 days that includes general aspects of vaccination, improvements to schools as part of the reopening plans.
Several senators expressed concern about the lack of information about certain areas and regions of education.
“After a careful and comprehensive analysis of all the information gathered about the candidate, it submits to this High Legislative Authority its Report recommending not to give the advice and consent for the appointment of Professor Elba L. Aponte Santos , for the position of Secretary of Education, as nominated by the Governor of Puerto Rico, Hon. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, “concluded Commission and Senate President José Luis Dalmau Santiago.