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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Board of Education Finishes Annual School Report

Board of Education members Terrence Joseph, Winona Hendricks and Janis Esannason.The V.I. Board of Education finished its 2010 school-management report Monday, debating and finalizing the wording of the board’s comprehensive annual school inspection report before voting to approve the document. However, it will be roughly two weeks before the public gets a chance to review the document.
By statute, the Board of Education must present a yearly report on all the schools, said chairwoman Winona Hendricks.
“Our members visit all the schools and, based on what we find, we make recommendations and present our report to the governor, the Legislature, the Education Department … and the public, so all the other stakeholders in our schools can have a copy,” Hendricks said.
The board looks at the physical state of the school buildings and grounds, academic progress, school performance statistics and enrollment, and staff-to-student ratio, among others, and makes recommendations accordingly, she said. They also ask parents, teachers and others with a stake in the schools to identify problems and propose solutions, too, she said.
“We are also asking what are the obstacles that prevent the problems from being solved,” Hendricks said.
The report was due to be completed back in June, said board member Terrence T. Joseph. The delays were due partly to difficulties coordinating school tours with board members and Education officials and to the inclement weather this summer and fall, said Joseph.
The final report should be available for public viewing around the end of the first week in November, Hendricks said.
Voting to approve the report were: Hendricks, Joseph, Judy Gomez, Keith Richards, Arah Lockhart and Oswin Sewer. Janis Esannason abstained. Cheryl Francis and Debra Smith-Watlington were absent.
The board went into executive session to discuss the hiring of an associate executive director. “We decided to send the selected individual a letter and arrange a date to have the executive committee meet with her,” said Richards after the executive session was over.
The position of associate executive director is new, said Hendricks.
“We have our executive director (Carol Henneman) on St. Thomas, and we need someone in St. Croix on a daily basis to assist,” she said. The board’s executive committee has selected its preferred candidate from a number of applicants. Once an offer has been made and accepted, the name and salary will become public, and the other candidates will be notified, she said.
The special meeting of the board was called to approve the annual report. It was held by teleconference at both the St. Thomas and St. Croix Board of Education offices.

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