Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds said Sunday she is reviewing the ways by which funds made available under the governor's declared state of emergency can be used for immediate repairs to public schools.
Speaking at the re-dedication of Government House in Christiansted, Simmonds said she has been "meeting with various department leaders in an attempt to determine how monies can be spent in repairing, maintaining and in some cases reconstructing various parts of the school campuses."
Simmonds said Education officials are working to develop a strategy for utilizing the state of emergency declaration in the best interest of the department. "While the state of emergency grants some leeway," she said, "rest assured that I will not do anything outside the law."
She added, "It is an ongoing process, and we will be proceed from there."
Simmonds came under fire last week when she announced that school children would have to pay $5 or $10 a week next school year to ride on school buses.
At that time Simmonds also said what she was doing was legal.
