Feb. 7, 2002 – The conditions outlined in a compliance agreement between federal officials and the V.I. Department of Education for making changes in financial management, personnel matters and other issues will lead to a better-run school system, Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds reiterated Thursday at a public hearing on St. Thomas, echoing remarks she had made two days earlier on St. Croix.
"This is something that we welcome," she said Thursday. "It will be good for the whole government. This fixing of the various broken pieces of government is a real accomplishment of this administration."
Her comments came at a public hearing on the proposed compliance agreement between the federal and territorial Departments of Education. The proposed agreement outlines a three-year timeframe in which various V.I. departments must make specific improvements in financial management, hiring practices, procurement practices and other matters.
The federal government had previously deemed the Virgin Islands education system a "high-risk grantee" for federal dollars, and specific changes in practices had already been recommended. But the changes will take longer to implement than expected, so the local and federal governments have been working out the compliance agreement that sets realistic goals for implementation.
If the territorial government does not meet the requirements, it could face the loss of some of the approximately $26 million in federal education funds it receives each year, Simmonds said. But she does not expect that to happen.
"I am not worried that we won't be able to meet the terms of the agreement," she said, noting that local officials helped draft the agreement so that the conditions could realistically be met.
Others speaking at the public hearing cited the need for a well-educated workforce if the Virgin Islands is to diversify its economy by attracting high-technology and other businesses. Yet others asked that the federal officials take into account cultural and economic circumstances unique to the Virgin Islands in drafting their conditions.
The compliance agreement is still a work in progress, and Simmonds said she
believed it would go into effect sometime around April.
