Parents of students at Evelyn Marcelli Elementary are fighting to keep their school open, but will have to wait a little longer to hear what a judge has to say about it.
The Department of Education announced in May its decision to close the school during the upcoming year. Since then, parents and staff have continued to show their opposition. Along with protests on St. Thomas, they also have been seen frequently on weekends selling water and other drinks on the roadsides in hopes of raising funds to save the school.
The parents have said at different public meetings they feel "disrespected" because they had no input in the decision-making process and were given no time to address, and maybe fix, some of the issues that Education officials said were considered before the decision was made.
According to court documents, the parents have taken their efforts to the next step and have asked the local courts to grant a request for a temporary injunction that would hold off the closing of the school. Court officials said Tuesday that a hearing scheduled for Thursday morning will be postponed until Aug. 25, just a few days before public schools are scheduled to open.
In a press release Wednesday, Department of Education officials provided an update on the school’s closing and said progress has been made in transferring the students and staff. The officials met to discuss Marcelli during a meeting on Tuesday. At the meeting, Superintendent of Schools Jeanette Smith-Barry said a majority of Marcelli’s 190 students have been placed at other schools throughout the island, while most of the requests from the students and their families for transfers to specific schools were granted, the release said.
Only five students still have to be placed, and that process will be completed within the coming weeks, Smith-Barry said.
In the release, officials also said the decision to close the school was made after a “careful vetting” of the issue and because of factors such as low enrollment numbers, structural problems at the school and “general government budget issues that have forced the department to more tightly manage its resources.”
V.I. Education Commissioner LaVerne Terry also spoke in the release about a shortage of specialized teachers and a nurse, and a lack of physical education or play areas for the students at the school.