A few weeks after the start of the new school year, V.I. Education officials found themselves defending both progress and persistent gaps during a Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development hearing Friday. Senators pressed leaders on everything from mold remediation at John H. Woodson Junior High School to chronic absenteeism, student safety, and the department’s ability to sustain critical services once federal relief dollars expire.
The session came less than a day after an early-morning fire damaged the Department of Education’s St. Thomas headquarters. Commissioner Dionne Wells-Hedrington said the blaze started around 1:15 a.m. Thursday in a storage room where outdated IT equipment was housed. It destroyed the room and spread into a restroom, but did not reach the adjacent server room, which powers internet access for schools and offices across the district.
“We are very aware of the vulnerability we now face,” she told lawmakers, adding that had the fire hit the servers, internet would have been out in schools across the district, along with the department offices. While it’s secure for now, she said she’s been working with Education’s provider to explore cloud backup options.
Meanwhile, Bureau of School Construction and Maintenance Director Craig Benjamin said he met with the Fire Service the following morning and is awaiting their official report. Senators, however, worried about roof damage over the server area, with Sen. Kurt Vialet warning that heavy rain could cause additional problems.
Looking at other repairs, Benjamin reported that on St. Croix, mold remediation at Woodson had been completed and new air conditioning units were being installed in classrooms, with the library and main office already outfitted. Test results on air quality were due after the Labor Day holiday, and the department said in a release Sunday night that a staggered reporting schedule should have students back in the classrooms on Sept. 8. Senators Friday acknowledged progress, including the long-awaited replacement of Woodson’s library air conditiong unit, which had been out of service for more than three years. “There’s a lot of frustration, but also a lot of good happening that we don’t always see,” Vialet said.
Friday, senators also touched on what they described as the “silent crisis” of chronic absenteeism. Both territorial superintendents said each district has six attendance counselors and itinerant staff, about 11 in total, who conduct home visits.
“We do see improvements when those visits are made,” said St. Croix Insular Superintendent Carla Bastian-Knight. “When we don’t, that’s when we tap into Human Services.”
Still,Vialet argued that referrals alone aren’t enough. “The first time we file a child neglect case with Human Services, then you’re going to see improvement,” he said, noting that some kindergarteners had not yet reported to school two weeks into the term. “It comes back on Education because we see it in the test scores. We have to work to see how there can be coordination between Human Services and Education.”
The point, he said, was underscored by safety incidents during opening week, when videos surfaced of an altercation at Charlotte Amalie High School and a neighborhood fight days later with students in Eudora Kean uniforms. Officials Friday confirmed that the students involved had been suspended and the cases accelerated for further disciplinary review. St. Thomas-St. John Insular Superintendent Stephan Jurgen, in further questioning from Vialet, said it’s not Education’s intention to give anyone a “pat on the back.”
Those behavioral concerns, senators added, reflect the strain on the system’s limited mental health capacity. Wells-Hedrington acknowledged that staffing remains thin, with only a handful of psychologists and social workers spread across districts. Agreements with outside providers, including Master Key and Liberty Place, are helping to fill gaps, but coverage is inconsistent. Bastian-Knight said the department is embedding more social-emotional learning supports and trauma-informed training for staff. “This generation is carrying more than we can see, and it’s showing up in behavior, attendance, and engagement,” she said.
To address academic deficiencies alongside behavioral needs, the department has rolled out a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) across all grades. The model groups students by need and offers escalating interventions in English Language Arts and Math. Jurgen said the shift allows schools to move away from one-size-fits-all instruction.
“We are now addressing how many years behind a student is and tailoring support to that need,” he said. Bastian-Knight added that the framework is not new—it was previously known as Response to Intervention—but said this time it comes with more coaching and oversight. Vialet pressed officials to ensure follow-through, and to hold administrators accountable in running their schools properly.
Meanwhile, staffing levels remain a concern across the territory. Wells-Hedrington testified that as of the start of the school year, the department carried 51 teacher vacancies, up from 46 last year, along with shortages in critical support positions such as paraprofessionals, attendance officers, and school psychologists. She explained that recruitment efforts are ongoing, with new hires coming in from off-island contracts and stateside recruitment fairs, but the pipeline remains too thin locally.
To stabilize the workforce, the commissioner pointed to several initiatives. One is a new partnership with the University of the Virgin Islands to expand teacher preparation programs, including scholarships and support for paraprofessionals to pursue certification. Another is the department’s “grow your own” strategy, which identifies high school students interested in teaching and supports them through college, with the expectation they return to the classroom.
“We have to build from within,” Wells-Hedrington said, with Sen. Carla Joseph highlighting that only two students recently graduated from the University of the Virgin Islands, and asking the plan for building sustainability.
To address the long-term gap, Wells-Hedrington said the department is working with the governor’s policy office and Career and Technical Education to create a career pathway beginning in eighth grade, where students would take exploratory courses, earn dual credits, and graduate high school with enough credits for an associate’s degree in education. From there, they could transition seamlessly into a bachelor’s program and enter the workforce sooner.
“The goal is to launch the pathway next school year,” Wells-Hedrington said. Beyond teachers, the commissioner noted efforts to recruit more specialized staff, including licensed counselors and social workers, through targeted federal grants and partnerships with community providers. In addition, the department has rolled out new incentives for hard-to-fill positions, such as relocation stipends and bonuses for teachers in high-demand subject areas like math, science, and special education.
On the basic needs front, officials said school lunch operations are fully up and running, with hot meals being served for the first time in years. Wells-Hedrington confirmed that kitchens are staffed and supply chains are steady, though aging equipment remains a challenge. Federal USDA funds have been tapped to replace outdated appliances and improve food service. But lawmakers were quick to point out that some schools still lack fully operational kitchens.
Sen. Franklin Johnson, in particular, pressed Benjamin for answers on why kitchens at Claude O. Markoe on St. Croix and Eulalie Rivera on St. Thomas remain incomplete. “If you don’t have a kitchen with tools and utensils, you can’t cook,” Johnson said. “This is unacceptable. I want a date.”
Benjamin responded that both kitchens are federal funded American Recovery Act projects, but delays from change orders, theft, and repairs slowed progress, though both projects, he added, are being accelerated, with contractors working on the weekends. Benjamin said the funding was held up previously but the Bureau had recently received the “greenlight” to begin.
Bastian-Knight added that Markoe’s renovation is a fully funded ARPA project that has been extended by multiple change orders, while Rivera’s kitchen was on track until thieves stripped out brand new equipment and damaged tile. “It was my understanding a community partner had offered to help replace what was stolen, but whether that’s happened I cannot say. What I can confirm is the funding for the project is there.” Benjamin said replacement equipment is in storage until electrical and tiling work are completed.
Johnson, visibly frustrated, reminded officials this was not the first time the issue had come before the committee. “It’s been going on too long,” he said.
The exchange highlighted the critical role of federal funding in sustaining the system. Wells-Hedrington said the department is currently managing more than $49 million in ARPA allocations. Those dollars, she explained, are underwriting everything from kitchen renovations and HVAC upgrades to MTSS implementation, summer learning programs, and expanded mental health services.
“ARPA has allowed us to move forward on projects that would otherwise have remained on a waiting list,” she said. But she also underscored its temporary nature: “We are putting these dollars into infrastructure, into people, into systems that our students need right now. But these dollars are time-limited. We have to make sure that the investments we’re making are sustainable once the federal relief expires.”
