Department Of Education Shutters Alexander Henderson School For One Week

ST. THOMAS — Virgin Islands Department of Education Commissioner Sharon Ann McCollum announced during a hastily organized press conference on Wednesday at Government House here that in an effort to ensure the health and safety of students and employees, Alexander Henderson Elementary School on St. Croix will be temporarily closed for one week—beginning Friday, April 1 and reopening Monday, April 11—to expedite repairs to a portion of the building’s roof.

The move comes as Rosa Soto-Thomas, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told The Consortium yesterday that she told Education officials she would call the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (O.S.H.A.), and file a complaint about the condition D.O.E. officials had her members working in. She said she visited the school on Wednesday and workers of a roofing company were conducting work on the school while teachers were working, and immediately demanded that the roofing work stop.

“After I said I would call OSHA, St. Croix Insular Superintendent Colleen Williams told me that Education was in the process of addressing the issue,” Mrs. Soto-Thomas said. Indeed, on Wednesday morning, The Consortium and other media outlets received a press invite from Government House about a “critical Department of Education matter,” that was to be held the same day at 3:00 p.m.

Ms. McCollum, however, said that contractors had been on site at Henderson School prior to the Easter vacation working on the roof, but rain delayed the work. “We have made the decision that for us to continue in a timely manner it is necessary to close the school,” she said, after revealing that “substantial leaks” were causing health and safety issues, “and we made the decision that for our employees, as well as our students, who are our top priority, it would be best for us to close the school.”

Ms. Williams reiterated Commissioner McCollum’s remarks. “Health and safety is extremely important to us. As we address the needs of our particular school, Alexander Henderson, we want to assure our parents and the larger St. Croix community that our efforts are to get our students, faculty and staff back into a healthy environment and that we will be moving to address all the needs that this particular school has,” she said.

Deputy Superintendent Vaugh Hewitt, who is also the lead maintenance official in the St. Croix school district, provided additional details of the work being conducted.

“At this time, we do have a roofing company working on the roof at Henderson School. They were there during the Easter break, but were unable to complete the work due to the weather. Beginning on March 31, we will deploy a team from our maintenance division that will be at the school looking at other issues that were affected by the leaks,” he said. “The company informed me that most of the roof is in good condition, but there is one area that needs to be addressed and is being addressed.” Hewitt said the work will be assessed and monitored after the repairs are completed.

School Principal Natasha O’Halloran-Smith applauded the district’s decision to close the school to facilitate the repairs. “When we return, our hopes is that we will be in an environment that we can provide the safety that our students and staff needs in order to give students the education we desire them to have,” she said.