GAINESVILLE: Immigration law could reduce school enrollments | Education

GAINESVILLE, Ga. -- The fallout from Georgia's new immigration will likely show itself in classrooms as the new school year starts.

One indication of what to expect came recently in Gainesville at Migrant Camp, a federally funded program.

The summer program aims to address the academic needs of children of migrant workers who often bounce from school to school as their parents find work.

"It's really hard for them because they miss a lot of stuff," said Maria Olalde, co-director of the Migrant Program summer school.

"The summer school helps them not forget what they just learned," said Manuel Felix, who works at a poultry plant in Hall County and had two children attend the camp.

As legal immigrants, the Felix family ws able to openly take advantage of the camp based at Fair Street Elementary School.

But, others have stayed away.

Because of Georgia's new illegal immigration law, attendance at Migrant Camp has dropped 30 percent from last year.

"Some of them were going back to their countries. Some to just different states where there are not any particular laws right now," said Olalde.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a Washington-based group, contends the biggest cost of illegal immigration -- more than 50 percent -- is education.

FAIR believes there are more than 133,000 illegal immigrants in Georgia's school system.

"The last day of school, a kid said, 'Mr. Campbell, this is my last day in the country,'" said Fair Street Principal Will Campbell.

Campbell said the student told him that he and many of his neighbors plan to leave because of the immigration law.

Principal Campbell doesn't know what to expect when school starts Monday, August 8. At Fair Street, an International Baccalaureate school, 70 percent of the 700 kids are Hispanic.

"We're planning for the numbers that we have (from last year) and we'll make adjustments for the numbers as they come in," Campbell said. "It does make planning difficult."

When school officials don't know enrollment numbers, it's hard to determine how many teachers to have available and a what grade levels.

As for the funding, it is based on last year's enrollment, so officials are hopeful.

"We haven't heard anything about reducing, if the kids don't show up," Campbell said.