Recent Natural Disasters and Displaced Families: Resources & Guidance for School Districts, Families, and Community Organizations
Please refer to听the following听for guidance and resources related to families displaced by natural disasters:
October 12, 2017 press release听on rights听of students displaced听by recent natural disasters
October 12, 2017 field advisory issued by Deputy Commissioner Jhone Ebert on students displaced by recent hurricanes
October 16, 2017 press release: Board Of Regents acts to help teachers displaced by Hurricane Maria get temporary certification to work in New York State
November 2017 letter from Angelica Infante-Green, Deputy Commissioner for the Office of P-12 Instructional Support, regarding New York State school registration requirements
November 2017 letter from Angelica Infante-Green, Deputy Commissioner for the Office of P-12 Instructional Support, regarding New York State school registration requirements (Spanish language)
March 2018 field advisory: access to academic records of Puerto Rican students displaced by Hurricane Maria (see full text below)
FIELD ADVISORY
TO:听 Superintendents of Public Schools, Directors of Charter Schools, Administrators, Coordinators of ELL programs
FROM:听Angelica Infante-Green, Deputy Commissioner for the Office of P-12 Instructional Support
Lissette Col贸n-Collins, Assistant Commissioner,听Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages
SUBJECT:听Access to academic records of Puerto Rican students displaced by Hurricane Maria
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, considerable number of students from the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) were displaced and temporarily relocated to the United States. As these students began to enroll in the New York State Public Schools, it was found that many lack the appropriate student records to complete a typical enrollment process. This situation placed an additional challenge on school district鈥檚 admissions and student placement processes. A comparable situation was occurring in various states in the East coast of the United States.
As a result, the Puerto Rico Department of Education developed the Student Records Exchange System (SRX), a platform designed to facilitate the exchange of students鈥 records to expedite their enrollment process at their schools. According to the PRDE, the information available through the new system allows school staff, such as guidance counselors and registrars, to make time-sensitive placement decisions more effectively. School staff can quickly access students鈥 previous enrollment records such as transcript information and/or students鈥 Individualized Educational Programs records to determine the appropriate placement within the new school. An additional benefit of this system is that if the students decide to return to Puerto Rico, the SRX will enable the exchange student records and documents from US schools back to the Puerto Rico Department of Education with updated academic information to continue their academic studies and eventually graduate.
On Monday, February 12, the PRDE offered a pilot webinar of the Student Records Exchange System for a selected number of New York State districts who are members of the two Leadership Council groups.
This system is now up and running and any school interested in requesting student transcripts or IEPs, will need to create an account using the following web address: .
Once on the website, the petitioner clicks on the login symbol on the upper right corner and click on the 鈥淩egister鈥 button. Once the requested information is submitted, the school petitioner will receive a notification confirming that the account has been validated. At that time, the school can submit their request, which need to include the following information:
Full name
Students ID (generated by the PRDE)
Four last digits of the Social Security number and
Birth date.
Once the information is submitted, a notification is sent to the petitioner and the document is shared with the receiving institution registered email address. PRDE recommends a sole key user per school.
The student ID number is widely known to the students and their parents, since it is used for many of the services the PRDE offers. In cases where this number could not be produced by the students or the parents, the remaining information could be submitted on the system and the PRDE would assist in securing this number.
In the near future, the PRDE may extend services to enable schools to request teacher certification, graduation certificates, diplomas and College Board scores. Displaced students from Puerto Rico who attended non-public schools are not included in the Student Records Exchange System (SRX).
For help and assistance or to report any issue, a form is available in their website. Although there is a telephone listed, the PRDE prefers the use of the form. For more information on the Student Records Exchange System (SRX), please call (787) 759-2000 or write to: Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) P.O. Box 190759, San Juan, PR 00919-0759.