After Mapp Orders Education Officials Not To Attend Senate Hearing, Education Commissioner Is Subpoenaed By Senate

ST. THOMAS — It was expected to be a hearing where senators were to learn of the Department of Education’s (D.O.E.) plans for the upcoming school year following territory-wide school tours the Senate Committee on Education, Youth, and Recreation had organized.

The Department of Education had already informed the committee that D.O.E. Commissioner Sharon McCollum and other officials would not be present at the Tuesday hearing because they were off island, however D.O.E. promised that the following education representatives would be sent to testify: The commissioner’s Chief of Staff Anthony Thomas; Racquel Berry-Benjamin, deputy superintendent of the St. Thomas – St. John District, and Vaughn Hewitt, deputy superintendent of the St. Croix District.

But none of the aforementioned representatives showed up for the hearing, as they were told by Governor Mapp not to attend, according to Senator Jean Forde, chairman of the committee. (Mr. Mapp is hosting an education-related press conference on Friday.)

Mr. Forde said he’d learned a daily earlier about the governor’s directive to the D.O.E. representatives, and deemed Mr. Mapp’s action — and that of the D.O.E. representatives who followed it — “a violation of law.”

Senators unanimously voted to subpoena Ms. McCollum to appear before the committee.

And they nonetheless chided the department, with Mr. Forde expressing alarm at the state of the schools shuttered after the storms, echoing Senator Hansen’s claims of exposed files — to include Social Security numbers — of students, teachers and support staff.

Senator Vialet restated what he said two weeks ago on Facebook, that D.O.E., the Mapp administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency had kept lawmakers in the dark relative to the timeline of modular units.

The few who did attend the hearing — both St. Croix and St. Thomas District American Federation of Teachers (A.F.T.) union presidents, spoke of their concerns.

Rosa Soto-Thomas, president of the St. Croix Federation of Teachers, expressed frustration with the length of time it was taking to get modular classrooms in place. “Currently, in the St. Croix District, we continue to house thirteen schools in five buildings. Members who work during the afternoon sessions have reported that they have overstayed their welcome at assigned schools and are eager to return to their home school or temporary modular units,” she said.

The concerns were not limited to the lack of modular classrooms, though. President of the St. Thomas-St. John A.F.T., Carol Callwood, said that some classrooms reportedly had roof damage; air condition units needed to be repaired and there were said to be continued reports of mold and asbestos. “The cost and time needed to properly clean and repair the schools and activity centers before classes resume for the 2018-2019 school year have not been identified or at least have not been shared with us,” Mr. Callwood said.

Senators present at the Wednesday hearing were Mr. Forde, Mr. Vialet, Tregenza Roach, Janelle Sarauw, Novelle Francis, Myron Jackson and Neville James.

Correction: April 4, 2018

A previous version of this article, because of a text error, said the Senate hearing occurred on Wednesday, when it actually occurred on Tuesday. We’ve updated the story.