Following the successful installation of a new compressor unit that powers the air-conditioning system at the Arthur A. Richards K-8 School kitchen, the facility resumed operations on Jan. 28 to supply meals to its modular campus, Claude O. Markoe Elementary School and the “Rookie” Jackson Ball Park in Estate Whim. These three meal distribution sites participate in the V.I. Department of Education’s “No V.I. Child Goes Hungry” Feeding Initiative that were temporarily closed due to the repairs.
The Arthur Richards kitchen was closed on Jan. 26 and 27 while the compressor was installed and tested by Department of Education maintenance staff who ensured proper cooling temperatures inside the kitchen before food service workers returned on Jan. 28.
According to Davidson Charlemagne, St. Croix District director of maintenance, local OSHA representatives were briefed on the matter, which required the new compressor unit to be shipped from an off-island vendor. He said the department did not receive a citation from the federal agency that oversees safe working conditions for American workers. Kitchen staff and union leaders were also kept abreast of the status of the repairs by Charlemagne and members of his staff.
All meal distribution sites on St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John are open and fully operational.
