After a virtual meeting, the Senate Nominating Committee did not recommend relinquishing the appointment of Elba Aponte Santos as secretary of the Department of Education.
According to the Commission report to which Puerto Rico Metro gained access, the senators who make up the body were left with more doubts after the interpellation hearing that the House of Representatives held in Aponte Santos in February.
According to the document, questions fluctuate between plans to relocate students in southern Puerto Rico affected by the 2020 earthquakes and subsequently the pandemic, the school reopening plan for the next school year, possible conflicts of interest, measures that Education will need to prevent corruption and money laundering, among other issues.
Regarding the official’s performance during the meeting of the Commission on 5 April, the evaluation explains that he did not elaborate other aspects such as Special Education, the construction plan of the modules for the areas affected by earthquakes, the contracts awarded under his responsibility, possible privatizations of schools, the delivery of computers to students and teachers and the personal start of classes in the middle of an emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The chairman of the Nomination Committee was dissatisfied with the candidate’s responses to a number of concerns that parents and students have sent him in recent weeks,” the report said.
“Other senators were concerned about the department’s limited access to information on complaints from its voters in favor of the best interests of student children,” he said.
On the other hand, the document alludes to an “ambiguous and vague follow-up plan” for the first 100 days, which includes general aspects of vaccination, improvements to schools as part of reopening plans.
Several senators expressed concern about this due to the lack of information on certain educational areas and regions.
“After a thorough and comprehensive analysis of all the information collected on the candidate, he submits to this High Legislative Body his report in which it is recommended not to give advice and to agree with the appointment of Professor Elba L. Aponte Santos, for the position of Secretary education, as appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Honorable Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia “, reads the conclusion of the President of the Commission and the Senate, José Luis Dalmau Santiago.