Undercurrents, a regular Source feature, goes below the surface of the Virgin Islands daily routines and assumptions to explore in greater depth the beauty, the mystery, the murky and the disregarded familiar. It is our bid to get to know the community more deeply.
Of the approximately 600 people in Virgin Islands jails, more than half never made it through high school. In fact, Theshia Nieves, education coordinator for the V. I. Bureau of Corrections, puts the figure even higher, at between 60 and 65 percent.
Most seem to have “dropped out” – either figuratively or literally – between sixth and ninth grades, she said. Some may have been “overlooked” in school, perhaps struggling with a learning disability that wasn’t understood by the teachers they encountered, or facing social or emotional challenges that were ignored by the system. Some come from families whose members weren’t educated and/or did not place much value on school.
And “Some, it was just their choice.”
Whatever the reason, prison can actually offer them a second shot at getting an education.
Besides some vocational education programs, BOC offers literacy programs, adult basic education classes, pre-GED classes and the GED high school equivalency program. It has even helped a few men take college courses online or through correspondence courses, although BOC doesn’t cover the cost of tuition fees for what is termed a “distance learning class.”
Currently, Nieves said, there are 20 people enrolled in the GED program at the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility on St. Croix and seven at the Alva A. Swan Correctional Annex on St. Thomas. The disparity is attributable to the difference in the two islands’ prison populations. Golden Grove houses more than three-fourths of the total number, and most of the St. Thomas inmates are serving sentences of a year or less, which may make it impossible for some to complete the GED program.
The program follows the curriculum for the high school equivalency program set by the Education Department; it is on a semester system, too, starting in the fall and ending in the spring, but not on the exact same schedule as Education. The length of time it takes to complete the program depends largely on how much education the student already has and how quickly he learns. Some men – it is almost exclusively men – complete the program in six months, Nieves said. But a year and a half is more usual.
The GED test includes science, math, language arts writing and reading, and social studies. So Corrections offers all those plus civics and reading comprehension.
The biggest problem area for most students, Nieves said, is “math, math, math!”
BOC relies on a small cadre of dedicated volunteers and paid staff to teach inmates. On St. Thomas there are currently four part-time volunteers, Nieves said. Two teach reading comprehension and social studies, one covers all subjects, and one is an assistant.
On St. Croix there is one full-time teacher on staff who covers all subjects and one part-time staff teacher for mathematics and civics. In addition, there are five longtime loyal volunteers on St. Croix, one married couple and three nuns from the order of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, who work with students in the literacy program and in math.
Nieves does not teach, but oversees the program. She has a master’s degree in Criminal Justice Management from the University of New Haven and an Education Specialist degree from Nova Southeastern.
Some BOC students are ordered by the court to complete their GED as part of their sentence. But most ask to be in the program, Nieves said.
Before getting into the program, an inmate fills out an application, and BOC makes an assessment to determine which courses he needs. Nieves also must coordinate with the BOC classification officers who control the placement of inmates within the prisons.
Gangs are “an issue,” she said. With security BOC’s top priority, it doesn’t want to place members of rival gangs in the same classroom. In some cases, if there’s no other way to handle it, “we would make special classes” to keep them separated.
Nieves is positive, but realistic. Typically as a new course begins, “our numbers can start high and then drop,” Nieves said.
“We’re all human,” she added, but at the same time, “they’re in here for a reason.” So inmates who miss classes without a legitimate excuse are dropped from the program.
“A lot of them really, really want to attain their GED,” Nieves said. “That’s the basic factor” that determines their success. “They want it.”
For those who pass the GED test, “We have our own graduation ceremony, cap and gown and all. And families are invited,” Nieves said. That usually happens in July.
In prior years, there have been as many as 10 or 15 men graduating, she said. Last year there were none. Nieves said she doesn’t want to rush anyone through the courses just for the sake of getting a graduation class. “I prefer that they’re fully prepared,” she said.
This year, “I have one scheduled to take the GED in June.” Two other students passed the pre-GED in April and may also take the GED in June. So potentially, there could be three graduates this summer.
For those who want to pursue higher education, there is the possibility of getting into the distance learning program, but participation in that is far more limited. Not only must participants pass entrance exams, they must be willing and able to pay whatever tuition and fees are involved.
The participant chooses his college, and that institution sends any required materials to Nieves. She oversees the progress, but doesn’t teach the course; that is done by the college through correspondence and internet classes. She does proctor the exams.
So far, three inmates have been involved in distance learning, she said. One of them, after his release, completed his courses and got his degree from Harvard University.
Right now the program is on hold. Because it involves inmates using computers to access college sites, BOC has to have internet security in place. “We recently moved to a new building” and are still setting up internal controls, Nieves explained. She’s hoping it will be up and running again in time for the opening of the next semester, in September.
In addition to the academic courses BOC is able to offer, Nieves said it provides computer classes, access to “one of the best law libraries in the territory” and various types of vocational training.
