Aug. 25, 2008 — Gov. John deJongh Jr. took a whirlwind tour of St. Croix schools for opening day Monday, breezing along fine until he got to John H. Woodson Junior High School, where he discovered the teachers out of the classrooms and the children gone.
The teachers walked out because of ventilation issues and claims of filthy conditions, which they said should have been taken care of before opening day.
"I saw a rat, cockroaches and there were mouse droppings on my desk," said Patricia Wyatt, school nurse. "The rooms are hot, too."
The teachers sat on low brick walls under the entrance canopy in high humidity with barely any breeze, waiting to hear what the governor had to say.
"These are not the conditions we want for our children," deJongh said. "I understand your frustration, and we are addressing the issues."
He told the teachers he would like to see them back in their classrooms tomorrow.
"We met with the administration in November and nothing has been done," teacher Roberto James said. "There is mold and algae growing all over and the classrooms are filthy. This has been going on for two years."
The teachers were calm and tempers did not flare up. Talks with deJongh began right away in a closed-door meeting in a conference room in the school administrative offices.
A handful of unionized teachers, acting as spokesmen, were in and out of the hour-long meeting five times with concessions they presented to the teachers gathered under the canopy.
After the meeting, they came back with proposed solutions to the issues raised by the staff.
"In good faith we have agreed to go back to class tomorrow, since the children's education is our main concern," said Consylitha P. Walters, science teacher and teacher spokeswoman. "Remember, the kids come first."
Vaughn Hewitt, Woodson principal, told the teachers they will be back in the classrooms with the students tomorrow from 7:45 a.m. to noon. The agreement calls for half days for a week so cleanup can begin immediately, he said.
"The meeting was very productive, with the governor jumping right in to alleviate the problems," Hewitt said.
Fans will be brought in by next Tuesday and repair of windows will begin so they open and close properly to allow for ventilation.
"We are cautiously optimistic," said Sharon Canton, guidance counselor and teacher spokesman.
There is funding for air conditioning and a request for proposal (RFP) went out, but an error in wording held it up in the Department of Property and Procurement, deJongh said.
"I understand your willingness to start the school year with the best conditions for the kids," he said. "Hopefully things will be worked out before the end of the first grading period."
Later Monday, deJongh commented further on the meeting.
"We were able to reach a compromise with the staff, who had some concerns, and rightfully so, about the air conditioning, the fans in the school and the cleaning of the classrooms," he said. "We hope to address these things in the relatively short term — so far, we've identified where to get the fans from for the rooms and identified someone to come in and do the cleaning. We're trying to get to the heart of the concerns of the staff and teachers, and these are things I'm not willing to argue about. So the staff has said they would come to school tomorrow and for the rest of the week, as long as we do what was promised."
DeJongh began his morning tour at Lew Muckle Elementary School, followed by Central High School, St. Croix Educational Complex and St. Croix Career and Technical Education Center, then headed off to John H. Woodson.
He greeted students and teachers, wishing them a good school year. He talked to the principals and asked about enrollment figures and concerns they have about their schools.
Kurt Vialet, principal at St. Croix Educational Complex, showed deJongh around the office where reconstruction was done after the fire at the school in February of this year. The room is close to completion except for hooking up phone lines, Internet connections and computers, which Vialet said will be completed by next week.
St. Croix Career and Technical Education Center is adding construction and hospitality classes, Principal Willard John said. The governor told John he would like to see airplane mechanics taught at the center.
Back Talk Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
