Enrollment and textbooks: the public school cannot charge you for either

It is the law that made public school free in Puerto Rico, in its enrollment and in its materials. It is codified at 18 L.P.R.A. § 4 (enrollment) and § 151 (textbooks and supplies). Its statement of motives reasons the right: the right to education is among the most fundamental, since it is the one that leads to the understanding and rooting of other rights; from education the great civil liberties are nourished and in education they are sheltered. The law is from 1952 and its effectiveness was tied to that of the Commonwealth Constitution.

Every student at the State’s primary and secondary schools, day and night. The law does not condition the free provision on income, on residence within a district or on any other requirement: the wording is general for the State’s schools.

• Being a student at a State primary or secondary school, day or night.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Know the exact text about enrollment

   Article 1 is a single sentence and admits no exceptions: "No enrollment fee whatsoever shall be charged at the State’s primary and secondary schools, day and night". "Whatsoever" is the phrase that closes the door: there is no small charge allowed under another name.

2. 2

   Step 2: Know that books and supplies are free too

   Article 2 says it just as briefly: the Secretary of Education shall provide free of charge to every student at the state’s primary and secondary schools, day and night, textbooks and school supplies. It is not only enrollment: the study materials the law mentions fall under the same rule.

3. 3

   Step 3: Understand why the books must be returned

   The same sentence that makes them free adds that they shall at all times be property of the state. That is why the school may require you to return them at the end of the course without contradicting the free-of-charge rule: they were given to you at no cost, but they never stopped belonging to the State.

4. 4

   Step 4: If you are charged, ask for the legal basis in writing

   Faced with an enrollment charge at a public school, the practical route is to ask in writing under what provision it is charged, and to escalate the matter to the corresponding educational region. Be clear what you are invoking: Article 1 of Act 5-1952, which forbids charging any enrollment fee at the State’s primary and secondary schools.

The Department of Education is the one bound: the law requires the Secretary to provide textbooks and school supplies free of charge. Issues are channeled through the school and the educational region. If the matter is enrollment itself — where and how to register your child — we cover that in the public school enrollment guide.

• Paying an "enrollment fee" without asking: the law forbids charging any enrollment fee at the State’s schools.
• Believing textbooks must be bought: the Secretary must provide them free of charge, along with school supplies.
• Thinking that if the books are free you can keep them: the law says they shall at all times be property of the state.
• Assuming this law resolves uniform costs or parent association dues: it does not regulate them.
• Believing night school is outside it: the law expressly says day and night schools.
• Claiming without citing the basis: it is Article 1 of Act 5-1952 for enrollment and Article 2 for books.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Educación de Puerto Rico

  Educación

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov