A conference was held in Roosevelt Monday aimed at finding better ways to serve the growing immigrant student population.

The conference, held at Roosevelt High School, discussed topics including the need to hire qualified staffers and pass adequate school budgets. 

They also talked about the growing issue of child immigrants and gangs.

Roosevelt High School senior Jeffrey Arue says his two younger cousins came to the United States a few years ago from El Salvador and says they still struggle to adapt and keep up in school.

"They feel like they're alone in a way, they feel like they don't really have someone to watch them, someone to tutor them," says Arue.

Arue's family is not alone. Thousands of children migrate to the United States each year, some with adults, others by themselves.

Nearly 2,700 unaccompanied children have resettled on Long Island this year alone, which is a more than 100 percent increase from last year, according to the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.

School districts in Roosevelt, Hempstead and Brentwood have been hit particularly hard by the increase in immigrant students. The forum at Roosevelt High School looked at ways to better serve their needs.

"We have students for whom the trek was a 36-day nightmare of hiding in tanker trucks, hiding out in deserts, ransoms being held against family members in lieu of payment for safe passage into the United States," says Roosevelt School Superintendent Marnie Hazleton.

Hazleton says she needs more state and federal funding due to a 30 percent increase in immigrant students in her district this year.

The chancellor of New York state's Department of Education also attended the conference and told News 12 that the state is working on ways to restructure funding to help districts with growing numbers of immigrant students.