Stalled contract negotiations between the territory’s public school teachers and the Turnbull administration will resume Thursday, according to a St. Croix union official.
Cecil Benjamin, president of the St. Croix chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said he is "cautiously optimistic" that union leaders will be able to take a tentative agreement to rank-and-file members soon. Last week, St. Croix and St. Thomas/St. John AFT chapter officials said Government House negotiators had broken off talks on Aug. 12. The reason given at the time was that key players in the negotiations were attending the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Union officials later refuted this, saying their bargaining leader remained in the territory.
"We’re going to be back at the bargaining table" on Thursday, Benjamin said. "I believe we will be able to arrive at some type of agreement that we will be able to take to the members shortly."
Any proposed agreement would have to be ratified by teachers, para-professionals and school support staff. Benjamin said possible resolution of the issues of low teacher pay and substandard conditions in the territory’s schools is being discussed.
"If they’re going to address those two issues, they’ll be able to solve the crisis in education," Benjamin said. "I really believe something can be done. The question is how much."
He said the union took the government’s "limited resources" into consideration going into negotiations.
Benjamin said he and Glen Smith, president of the St. Thomas/St. John AFT chapter and a Senate candidate, had one-on-one meetings with Gov. Charles W. Turnbull at the Democratic convention.
"We had gotten the ear of the governor for five days," Benjamin said. "We had serious discussions concerning the teachers’ plight in the territory. Without that, we may not have been back at the bargaining table."
Meanwhile Wednesday, Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds canceled a press conference for the second time this week. The meeting had been set for Monday afternoon to discuss the opening of the school year. Simmonds had announced earlier Monday that the start of public schools had been delayed by two weeks, to Sept. 11, and that there would be no school bus service for students.
She canceled the Monday press meeting because of the approach of Tropical Storm Debby. The session later announced for Wednesday, now tentatively rescheduled for Friday, was called off because Simmonds was in a meeting with the governor Wednesday that ran longer than expected, according to Education Department authorities.
Several months ago, Simmonds announced her intention to begin charging school bus fees this fall of $5 a week for elementary students and $10 a week for secondary students. She said the fees would help fund the $5 million it costs to transport students annually. Her announcement raised a storm of protest, however.
The Senate approved legislation to prevent the move, but Turnbull vetoed that measure and the bill now faces a possible legislative override.
Jonathon James, president of the Pearl B. Larsen Elementary School PTA on St. Croix, said it is now the Legislature’s responsibility to address the prospect of no busing when school starts on Sept. 11.
"The ball is in the court of the Legislature to… come up with that money so our children can get to school," James said. He added that a lack of buses will "create a major, major problem for parents throughout the territory."
