Teacher out of Lexington classroom as visa ‘ran out.’ What the district is doing
Students trying to learn a foreign language at a Midlands elementary school are missing their teacher, after a holdup in extending her visa forced her to stop teaching before the end of the semester.
According to an email that was sent last week to parents at Midway Elementary, French immersion teacher Maria Villalobos — “Madame Vi” to her third grade class — had to step away from the class when her work visa ran out last Monday.
“As you may know, Mme Vi has been waiting on approval of her visa since May 2025,” Midway Principal Tim Carnahan wrote in the email. “She and our district’s Human Resources department have worked hard to get her application approved prior to the deadline of Monday, March 16, 2026.
“If the approval does not come in by the end of the day Monday, Mme Vi will have to be out of work for an unknown period of time starting Tuesday, March 17.”
The Lexington 1 school district confirmed that Villalobos, a citizen of Venezuela, could not legally continue working past March 16 when her H-1B visa — which allows non-U.S. citizens to work in certain specialized fields in the country — ran out, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had not yet approved an extension that would have kept her in the classroom.
Attempts by The State to reach Villalobos for comment before publication of this story were unsuccessful. She remains legally present in the U.S., if unable to work, while her application for an extension is pending, the school district said. Her husband remains an active teacher in the district.
“I would be lying to say I know enough about immigration to know how all this works,” said school board member McKenzie Flashnick. “I don’t understand why it’s taking so long to get an answer.”
Flashnick has heard from parents who are frustrated with the sudden loss of their child’s teacher in the middle of the semester. The district is working with elected officials to make sure an extension for Villalobos is granted. In the meantime, Midway’s on-site language interventionist has taken over teaching her class.
“Immersion’s already hard to find teachers, especially when you already have kids almost through the entire year, to have class disrupted like this is hard for the kids,” Flashnick said. “Our job as school board members is to make sure our kids are educated.”
Foreign teachers have long had a presence in S.C. classrooms, where they help alleviate a statewide teacher shortage. Lexington 1, which covers the central part of Lexington County, currently has 92 staff in schools operating on a similar visa.
The district can usually secure an extension of an eligible teacher’s visa well in advance. An H-1B visa can be extended for a maximum of six years, and because Lexington 1 offers dual enrollment in higher education classes, the district is exempt from national restrictions on the number of H-1Bs issued, the district said.
But Villalobos’ position may be affected by her nationality. Venezuela is currently under a partial travel ban issued by President Donald Trump, which restricts the kinds of visas Venezuelans can receive in the United States.
Last year, the Trump administration canceled temporary protected status that had been granted to Venezuelans in the U.S. because of political and economic instability in their home country. That was before the U.S. carried out a military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and brought him to the U.S. to face narco-terrorism charges.
In a statement, Lexington 1 said that at least six other teachers in the district are attempting to extend similar visas this school year, but are facing similar delays in receiving approval.
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 10:35 AM.
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