Senate committee questions Elbaricet Aponte Santos on reopenings, infrastructure and oversight during confirmation hearing

Elbaricet Aponte Santos, the governor’s nominee to lead Puerto Rico’s Department of Education, told the Senate’s Commission of Appointments on April 5 that she is “ready” to continue work she began in an acting capacity, outlining early actions on school reopenings, technology and financing while answering sustained questioning from senators about infrastructure, special education, payroll controls and vendor selection.

Aponte began with her background as a career public‑school teacher and union leader and described priorities she said she had advanced in her first 91 days: reopening schools in phased fashion, deploying vaccines for staff in coordination with the Department of Health and the National Guard, expanding Wi‑Fi access and reactivating frozen federal funds by agreeing to a federally required monitor. “Ver a esos niños… me llenó de gran satisfacción,” she told the commission.

Why it mattered: senators pressed for concrete numbers and timelines that affect students and municipal governments. Aponte said 120 schools had opened in hybrid or in‑person modalities at the time of the hearing and reported between about 2,586 and 3,020 students attending on a…