Montessori School in La Parguera Loses Director and Teachers Days Before Classes Resume

By CoquiList

Ten days before classes resume, the school community of La Parguera in Lajas faces a crisis that threatens to dismantle one of the most successful educational projects in southern Puerto Rico. The Department of Education did not renew the contract of the director of the Alejandro Tapia y Rivera Montessori Secondary School, Dr. Carla González Cobo, and left at least five teachers without contracts — all without formal explanation to the 106 families who depend on this school specializing in marine sciences ¹².

The school has a history of resistance. The DE closed it in 2018, but the La Parguera community managed to reopen it in 2020 after an intense campaign led by parents and local organizations. Since then, under González Cobo's leadership, the campus became a model of Montessori education with an environmental focus: mangrove restoration projects in hurricane-damaged areas, vegetable and fruit gardens, community workshops on coastal risks and hurricane preparedness, a meteorological station, and two solar panel stations funded by the Flamboyán Foundation ².

The director's contract expired on June 30, 2026. Families learned of her departure through group chats, with no official communication from the DE. When 52 parents, students, and community members signed a petition demanding her reinstatement, the Movimiento de Acción Comunitaria de la Parguera channeled the demand to Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos Parés ².

But the problem goes beyond the director. As of this publication, multiple teaching positions remain vacant — including English, Spanish, science, special education, agriculture, and library — despite recruitment efforts. No summer open house or new family orientation was held, and the school year begins August 6 ¹.

"Are they trying to close the school? Do they want to remove us from this space?" asked Rocío de los Ángeles Martínez Ponce, a parent, during a vigil organized by families. "They say children are the priority, but there is another agenda we don't know about" ¹.

Carla Rodríguez Rivera, mother of two students, summed up the collective sentiment: "Our children and the 106 families represented by this school want our director back" ².

The backstory includes an incident from last semester, when social media criticism emerged after González Cobo and several teachers arrived late due to flight delays while returning from an authorized field trip to research potential partnerships. Families suspect that incident may have triggered the current investigation and personnel changes ¹.

The DE responded that it aims to fill authorized positions before August, following established protocols with the Montessori Auxiliary Secretariat and the Mayagüez regional education office ¹.

What It Means for You

If you have children at the La Parguera Montessori School or at any public school facing abrupt personnel changes, the situation reveals several systemic risks. First, annual contracts for directors and teachers at specialized schools create a vulnerability: a years-long educational project can be dismantled in a single administrative decision. Second, the DE's lack of official communication to affected families is not an isolated case — it is a pattern that repeats at schools across the island.

For the 106 families at this particular school, the clock is ticking. Without a confirmed director, without at least six teachers in key positions, and without summer orientation completed, August 6 approaches with more questions than answers.

How to Take Action

1. Check your school's status: Contact the regional education office for your district (for Lajas, that is the Mayagüez office) and ask directly whether there are vacant positions at your children's school before August 6.

2. Document everything in writing: If you receive information about personnel changes only through chats or word of mouth, request written confirmation from the DE. They are obligated to provide formal notification.

3. Organize with other parents: The example of the Movimiento de Acción Comunitaria de la Parguera shows that collective petitions with signatures and organized representation carry more weight than individual complaints.

4. Attend public hearings: Your school's Consejo Escolar (School Council) is the formal mechanism for questioning administrative decisions. Request that personnel changes be added to the agenda.

5. Contact your legislator: Representatives from District 22 (Lajas, Cabo Rojo, Hormigueros, San Germán) and senators from the Mayagüez District have jurisdiction to make inquiries to the DE about these decisions.

6. Prepare a Plan B: If the situation is not resolved before August 6, identify transportation options to nearby Montessori schools or public schools with science programs in the southwest region.

What Comes Next

The real deadline is August 6, when the 2026-2027 school year begins. If the DE does not fill vacant positions and does not appoint a director — whether González Cobo or another person with Montessori experience — the school could open with an incomplete teaching staff or, in the worst-case scenario, face a second closure like the one in 2018.

The La Parguera community already proved once that it can reopen a closed school. Now the question is whether the DE will force them to fight the same battle again, or whether it will respond before the first bell rings.

Sources: ¹ El Nuevo Dia — La Parguera Montessori school community demands explanations over faculty changes ² NotiCel — Community demands Education Secretary reinstate Montessori school director in Lajas