Springfield schools to receive state grants to help with growing Haitian migrant population

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio's state government is sending federal grant funding to Springfield schools that Gov. Mike DeWine says have seen strained by an increase in enrollment among Haitian migrants.

DeWine announced Monday that the state would provide nearly $1.4 million in one-time funding for Springfield schools to spend on additional technology, translation devices and services, educator training and mental health support. The schools can decide how to spend the money, which was allocated by the federal government to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Springfield City Schools is receiving the bulk of the grant funding at $1.35 million. Springfield Preparatory and Fitness Academy and Springfield Sports Academy will receive $12,000 each. Some schools in northwest Ohio also have seen a growing number of Haitian migrants: Findlay City Schools and Lima City Schools will receive $100,000 and $36,882, respectively, to pay for translation technology.

"Schools in Springfield and other communities that have been dealing with sudden increases in their student population have no doubt been strained. These funds will help to relieve some of this pressure and create a better learning environment for all students in these communities," DeWine said.

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Springfield's population of Haitian migrants has been under a political spotlight for weeks after former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential running mate U.S. Sen. JD Vance amplified unsubstantiated claims that immigrants were eating their neighbor's pets. Local officials and DeWine, a fellow Republican, have refuted the claims. The response among other Republicans has been mixed.

The rumors prompted a series of bomb threats that closed local schools and government buildings in the days after Trump repeated them during a nationally televised presidential debate. DeWine deployed state troopers to sweep schools each day so that schools could reopen.

Local officials estimate that more than 15,000 Haitian migrants have settled in Springfield, a city of about 60,000 people, since they were admitted to the U.S. under temporary protected status, a designation that allows them to live and work in the country legally on a temporary basis.