New data from El Paso County leaders shows an increase of immigrant students in schools

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - New data from El Paso County leaders suggests that there may be hundreds of new immigrant children enrolling in area schools. 

One county commissioner, Carrie Geitner, told KRDO13 Monday that inducting all those new arrivals without extra financial help from the state is placing a big extra strain on school budgets.

New data provided by El Paso County leaders indicates that there are now more than 500 immigrant kids enrolled in local schools who weren't part of the initial student count conducted back in October. That fact is leaving some commissioners frustrated that districts are feeling overwhelmed by all the new arrivals.

"I'm hearing from school board members that they're having to, for example, hire more ESL teachers and so they are seeing the impacts," said Geitner.

Geitner tells KRDO13 that she is worried that school districts in El Paso County are getting swamped with immigrants. 

"Off the top of my head. I know D11 had some of the higher numbers," said Geitner.

From October of last year to February of this year, El Paso County commissioners said 370 more immigrant children registered to attend school in District 11 alone. Those numbers are based on the best estimates that schools can give since some families may not report their immigration status out of various fears.

"It concerns me, because after the October count, those schools don't receive any funding for those students, but they are required by law to educate them," said Geitner.

However, good news may be coming for school districts. The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) said the joint budget committee drafted a bill that would help provide more money to schools that are dealing with an influx of students from out of the country. 

Meanwhile, leaders in El Paso County are reiterating their stance that the county is not a sanctuary destination and that schools in our area don't have the extra resources to suddenly look after hundreds of new immigrant children.

"We don't intend on expending taxpayer dollars to deal with illegal immigrants at this point," said Geitner.

KRDO13 asked the county about the data from previous school years, but they said they didn't have that data.

We also reached out directly to all of the school districts in El Paso County that are seeing an influx of immigrants but did not hear back, as most of them are on Spring break.

If you want to see the latest updates about the migrant crisis impacting El Paso County, click here.