Education Department to train over 22,000 employees in emergency response across 856 schools

Puerto Rico's Department of Education (DEPR) announced that more than 22,000 teaching and non-teaching employees will receive specialized emergency preparedness and response training during this school year, part of an effort the agency says is meant to strengthen response capacity at 856 schools and facilities across the island's seven educational regions ¹².

The context

Puerto Rico has lived through nearly a decade of emergencies that have directly tested its school system: Hurricane María in 2017, the southwestern earthquake sequence that began in late 2019 and left schools in Guánica, Yauco and Guayanilla structurally damaged for years, and the recurring extended blackouts under LUMA Energy that interrupt classes year after year. Against that backdrop, DEPR maintains a permanent agenda of drills and safety operational plan reviews, and this new training program is being folded into that agenda, according to the agency's Safety Commissioner, César O. González Cordero ¹.

The numbers

• 22,136 employees — teaching and non-teaching staff — will be trained, according to the agency's exact figure ¹².
• 856 schools and facilities in total will receive the training.
• 7 educational regions are participating: Arecibo, Bayamón, Caguas, Humacao, Mayagüez, Ponce and San Juan, plus central-level offices ¹².
• Trainings are in-person and cover emergency management, the Incident Command System (ICS), hazard identification, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid, automated external defibrillator (AED) use, scene stabilization, search and rescue, victim classification through the START Triage system, and evacuation procedures ¹.
• Participants will also run practical exercises and drills based on each school's emergency operational plan.
• Those who complete the first aid, CPR and AED portion can earn a certification backed by the American Red Cross, valid for two years ¹.

Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos Parés said "the safety of our students and employees requires constant preparation," adding that these trainings build on work the agency carries out throughout the year through drills and emergency plan reviews ². Ramos Parés also noted that continuous preparation matters especially given the steady incorporation of new employees into the school system ¹.

So far, neither Metro Puerto Rico nor NotiUno.com has reported a specific region-by-region schedule, the program's total cost, or whether it draws on FEMA federal funding. It also hasn't been specified whether participation is mandatory for all staff or limited to certain positions.

What this means for you

If you have children enrolled in a public school, this means that at some point this school year, staff at that school — teachers, custodial staff, office workers, school security — should receive updated training on how to respond to a medical emergency, an earthquake, a fire, or a situation requiring evacuation. If you work for DEPR, you'll likely be scheduled to attend one of these trainings as part of your work year, and you could come out of it with a Red Cross certification that's useful outside of work too. For communities in the southwest still carrying the trauma of the 2019-2020 earthquakes, and for any family that lived through the extended blackouts after María, a program like this is a signal the agency is trying to institutionalize preparedness rather than improvise every time an event hits.

How to do it / Checklist

1. Ask at your child's school. If you're a parent or guardian, call the school office or ask the principal whether the campus already has a training date scheduled or has completed it this semester.
2. Request the updated emergency operational plan. Every school should have one; you can ask the front office for a copy or a summary.
3. If you're a DEPR employee, confirm with your educational region (Arecibo, Bayamón, Caguas, Humacao, Mayagüez, Ponce or San Juan) when your training is scheduled and whether you need to register in advance.
4. Check where the AED (defibrillator) is located at your child's school; under this program, more staff will know how to use it.
5. If your school was damaged by earthquakes or hurricanes and you feel the evacuation plan is outdated, ask school administration to review it as part of this training cycle.
6. Save the contact for DEPR's School Safety Office in case you need to report that your school hasn't received training despite being included in the program.

What comes next

DEPR has not yet published a detailed school-by-school calendar or a closing date for the program, so trainings are expected to roll out across the 2026-2027 school year in all seven regions. With hurricane season active through November and the recent memory of seismic activity in the southwest, the agency will likely use the coming months to show concrete progress, especially in the Ponce and Mayagüez regions, hit hardest by the 2019-2020 earthquakes. CoquiList will keep watching for the agency to release figures on how many schools have already been trained, or for lawmakers to request an audit of how program funds are used.

Sources

1. Metro Puerto Rico — "Más de 22,000 empleados de Educación recibirán adiestramientos para responder a emergencias", September 25, 2026. https://www.metro.pr/pr/noticias/2026/09/25/mas-de-22000-empleados-de-educacion-recibiran-adiestramientos-para-responder-a-emergencias/
2. NotiUno.com — "Educación capacitará más de 22,000 empleados para emergencias", September 25, 2026. https://www.notiuno.com/noticias/gobierno-y-politica/educaci-n-capacitar-m-s-de-22-000-empleados-para-emergencias/article_bf598d6c-1b42-4d62-933e-11b3965a6217.html