Delayed arrival

Better late – even 26 days late – than never.

Homeland Security laws delayed a Mexican exchange student’s arrival at St. Charles Catholic School by almost four weeks.

Alberto Estrada, from Leon, Mexico, arrived Monday for class – five days after getting the green light from St. Charles.

In a clean white shirt and black slacks, Estrada sat with his old classmates after sweating out the federal process.

Estrada, now a 6-foot-tall eighth-grader, attended fifth grade at St. Charles Catholic School three years ago.

But he never forgot his Spokane classmates, who’d laugh at his jokes and his signature routine of singing about shiny bananas.

(Don’t worry, teachers don’t understand why it’s funny either, but students reportedly loved it.)

Estrada’s refusal to give up hope of returning to Spokane for this school year is notable, said administrators.

But what’s more notable is that he is the first foreign exchange student to attend St. Charles since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, after which laws governing exchange students were tightened.

When Estrada first attended school in Spokane, he only needed a letter showing acceptance to a U.S. school.

This time he needed to obtain several federal forms, as did St. Charles, which applied in April for certification to host foreign students.

The laws are all part of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, also called SEVIS, an online database that tracks international students. It’s run by the Department of Homeland Security.

Last year, a German student who attended Lewis and Clark High School was forced to return to Germany temporarily when officials discovered some SEVIS documents had not been completed.

For a while, it looked as if Estrada wouldn’t make it to Spokane.

Estrada’s father, also named Alberto Estrada, owns a real estate company and lives on a golf course in Leon.

He wanted his son to attend school in Spokane again.

St. Charles was still waiting for his SEVIS certification when classes began Sept. 1, which added to Estrada’s anxiety, said Carol Dever, who served as interim principal then.

Skip Bonuccelli was named principal this summer. Dever made numerous phone calls to try and hurry the process.

One other student from Leon decided to give up on Spokane and stay in Mexico for the year, Dever said.

St. Charles wasn’t alone with their situation.

Assumption Parish School was not allowed to admit two students from Mexico because they were still awaiting their SEVIS certification, said principal Sonia Flores-Davis.

Clearance should come in another month, she said.

On Sept. 22, St. Charles received their certification.

Three days later, Estrada and his parents touched down at Spokane International Airport.

“I cried when I saw the family at the airport,” Dever said.

“This is a story with a happy ending.”

On his first day in class, still a little tired from the long flight, Estrada was quieter than students remembered.

Teachers and students alike would exclaim at his new height, which he said was 187 centimeters.

They say he grew by at least a foot.

Estrada refused requests by friends to sing his old banana song.

Instead, he sipped on water as he nibbled on a spaghetti school lunch.

“He’s kind of shy now because he’s new again,” said classmate Lauren Colliton.

As the day went on, his classmates had more questions for him.

“Do you remember calling me ‘fire ant’?” said a girl with red hair.

“I got my braces off,” said another girl, wondering if Estrada noticed.

Eventually, the tall, dark and familiar new kid began to relax.

“Were you a blonde before?” Estrada asked another girl.