Breaking

The Virgin Islands Department of Education (D.O.E.), St. Thomas – St. John (STTJ) District will open its 2017-18 school year on Tuesday, October 10, D.O.E. announced late Friday. Due to some facilities requiring extensive repair work, only ten schools will be ready to receive students on Tuesday, however, by October 16, all schools declared operational in the District will be open for instruction.

While all schools have sustained hurricane-related damage, D.O.E. has condemned two: the Addelita Cancryn Junior High and the Emanuel Benjamin Oliver Elementary schools. The Gladys Abraham Elementary School, although not condemned, will not be operational this school year, therefore, schools in the district will assume regular and split session schedules.

The STT-STJ Curriculum Center and receiving warehouse were severely damaged during the hurricane and the industrial freezer which housed frozen foods for the school lunch program was also destroyed. The department has secured refrigerated containers that will store frozen foods as a replenishment supply arrives to the district. Abbreviated meals will be served during the first week of school. For breakfast, students can expect tuna and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be provided for lunch. Students are welcome to bring their own lunch. Emergency drinking water will also be provided. Hot meals will begin on October 16.

Results of a test drive conducted by the Water and Power Authority (WAPA), the Department of Public Works, School Bus, Inc., and the district’s Pupil Transportation division determined that the normal school bus routes can and will remain the same. Buses will begin traveling on their scheduled routes for morning and regular session schools at 6:15 a.m. Those schools include Bertha C. Boschulte Middle, Ivanna Eudora Kean High, Ulla F. Muller Elementary, Leonard Dober Elementary, Lockhart Elementary, Yvonne Milliner-Bowsky Elementary and Addelita Cancryn Junior High. Buses will begin pick-up of students attending afternoon session schools at 10:15 a.m. These schools are Gladys Abraham Elementary, E. Benjamin Oliver Elementary and Charlotte Amalie High. Additional buses will be added to pick up students at Kirwan Terrace, Estate Tutu and Hidden Valley.

D.O.E. officials have been working with FEMA along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other local and federal partners to get school facilities up and running in the territory following Hurricanes Irma and Maria. School restoration efforts include ensuring each operational school facility has electricity from WAPA and/or generators, running water, debris removal, room sanitation and temporary roof repairs.

St. Croix District

The St. Croix District has set a tentative start date for October 16, 2017. Similar to the STTJ District, some schools will resume instruction before others. The 2017-18 school year began in the STX District on Tuesday, September 12 prior to Hurricane Maria’s landfall on the territory. The Arthur A. Richards Junior High School has since been condemned, with significant damages reported a many of the schools.

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Feature Image: Charlotte Amalie High School Band. (Credit: Aisha Zakiya)