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SCHOOL ATTENDANCE GOOD DESPITE HOLIDAY

Despite public school makeup days being held on a local holiday Friday, attendance at several territorial schools was strong.
According to Jeanette Smith, principal of Charlotte Amalie High School, Transfer Day, a V.I. government holiday, was "a regular day." Classes were being held because of missed days due to teacher walkouts earlier in the year and weather-related problems.
"Students and teachers realized we had to have a makeup day," Smith said. "It turned out to be a relatively productive day."
On St. Croix, the Education Complex saw 1,241 students show up for school out of 1,274, according to a staffer in the attendance office. She attributed the high turnout to midterm tests.
At the Big Island’s Elena Christian Junior High School, Principal Carolyn Brown said she had "very good attendance" from both teachers and students.
"I was expecting them to come to school," she said.
But back on St. Thomas at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, Principal Sinclair Wilkinson said the holiday proved to be a bigger draw for the 985 students than school.
"We had more students and teachers absent today than usual," he said. "But by and large we had a good crowd. I would say it was successful still."
It was unclear what the count was at St. Croix's Central High School because the phone went unanswered after 3 p.m. In addition, calls to the Department of Education's administrative offices were not answered, apparently due to the holiday.
The department had to find extra days to hold the required number of instruction hours per year. An uproar ensued after the department announced it was going to hold classes on Memorial Day. That plan was scrapped after veterans complained.

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