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Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesTEACHERS RETURN TO CLASS, STUDENTS STRAGGLE IN

TEACHERS RETURN TO CLASS, STUDENTS STRAGGLE IN

With a few fits and starts, teachers on St. Croix are finding their way back into classrooms after striking for 17 days. Students, however, appear to be somewhat lost.
With 18 of 20 schools reporting, 586 of the 758 teachers and professional staff in the St. Croix school district showed up for work on Thursday, according to the St. Croix superintendent’s office.
Attendance for students, however, lagged far behind. Of the approximately 11,000 students in the district 5,841 made it to class. Education officials noted, however, that by 4:45 p.m. two schools hadn’t reported their attendance records, so tallies for teachers and students could be higher.
Although Territorial Court Judge Brenda Hollar ordered members of the American Federation of Teachers back to work last Friday, most skipped Monday as part of a protest prior to Tuesday’s general election, which was a government holiday.
Wednesday, then, was the first full day back in school in 22 calendar days for the majority of AFT members and students on St. Croix. It was reported that a third of Central High School’s students didn’t make it to class that day.
Hollar, meanwhile, ruled that after the local AFT, primarily the St. Croix chapter, rejected three wage proposals, negotiations had reached an impasse. The stalemate will now go before the Public Employee Relations Board. If PERB cannot work an agreement, the matter will go to mediation. If a satisfactory solution still isn’t found, a three-member arbitration panel will decide.
If the full process is necessary, it could take up to two months for a contract to be worked out.

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