Senate President Vargrave Richards has asked V.I. Delegate to Congress Donna Christian-Christensen to try to recover federal education funds for the territory that have not been released in recent years.
"Funds originally authorized through a General Assistance Program in November 1985 to provide for assistance to improve public education in the Virgin Islands have not been received in the territory for fiscal years 1996 through 1999," Richards wrote in a letter to the delegate.
"A second program authorization under the Delugo Territorial Education Improvement Program, for fiscal years 1994 through 1999, has never been received" either, he said.
Richards wants to know why the funds weren’t allotted to the territory, if they can be retrieved and whether the Virgin Islands could get a lump sum payment.
"We cannot justify striving for excellence at the teacher or student level if there is a lack of appropriate funding to buttress teacher salaries, training and much needed supplies," Richards said. "We urgently need to find solutions that will supplement local funds to meet the needs and demands for effective schooling."

The newly developed St. Croix Heritage Trail was officially named one of the 50 National Millennium Legacy Trails in a recent White House ceremony.
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, who submitted the trail as the Virgin Islands’ nomination, announced the designation Tuesday.
The St. Croix Heritage Trail is a 72-mile-long driving tour of historic sites on the island. Stops include architectural ruins of the 18th and 19th centuries, remnants of the once-bustling sugar industry, and Point Udall, the easternmost point under the American flag.
"This designation will greatly benefit St. Croix’s heritage tourism initiative since a significant amount of national and international marketing of these trails as tourism destinations will be undertaken by the White House Millennium Council," Turnbull said.
The Millennium Legacy Trails project is funded with a $520,000 grant by the National Endowment for the Arts and administered by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. The 50 trails are in 47 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands.
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rodney Slater, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, named the sites late in October.
The St. Croix Heritage Trail is a public-private sector partnership of Tourism, the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce and the St. Croix Landmarks Society.
"A number of private sector contributions have enabled us to move forward with the design and fabrication of road signs and the development of a trail brochure with map," said coordinator Nancy Buckingham. Those should be in place by the end of the year.
The next phase of the project "will include pullovers, overlooks, interpretive signage, educational materials, training and economic opportunities seminars," she said.

The government is getting serious about monitoring businesses that receive tax breaks through the Industrial Development Commission to be sure they comply with labor and other requirements.
Acting IDC Commissioner Frandelle Gerard has "teamed up" with Labor, the Internal Revenue Bureau, Licensing and Consumer Affairs and the Corporations Division so each agency can check on the aspects under their purview, according to a Government House statement.
U.S. Customs also has agreed to help ensure that only those materials an IDC beneficiary brings into the territory for use in its business will be tax exempt.
Licensing will make sure all licensing requirements are met, Labor will ensure the beneficiary employs the required minimum number of local workers, IRB will review tax documentation for accuracy and Corporations will analyze corporate documents for compliance, the press release states.

Members of the Finance Committee on Tuesday approved 13 budget bills and tabled four to be included in the Omnibus Act, which will be taken up again Wednesday morning.
In a meeting that was delayed by seven and a half hours, the six committee members in attendance acted on remaining budget bills in about two hours.
Voting unanimously to approve the bills were Finance Committee Chair Lorraine Berry and Sens. David Jones, Roosevelt St.C. David, George Goodwin, V. Anne Golden and Gregory Bennerson. Committee member Alicia "Chucky" Hansen was absent.
In a compromise between the Legislature and the administration, the committee agreed to a modified line-item budget for government expenditures for the upcoming year.
The whole committee process was delayed last week when Thursday's scheduled Finance Committee meeting was postponed until Tuesday.
Thursday afternoon St. Thomas Source reported that Post Auditor Campbell Malone said the revenue projections in the fiscal year 2000 budget were $135 million short.
In postponing the meeting Berry said balances in various unidentified government funds had to be reconciled with the Finance Department and Office of Management and Budget before the committee could move forward.
Bennerson told the V.I. Independent on Tuesday that he believes the Legislature may have to consider a supplemental budget to make up the difference in the revenue projections.
"Quite frankly, the expenditures of the government need to be cut and there needs to be a comprehensive plan. We're way off budget," the senator said.
The bills approved Tuesday include:
– A $22.8 million appropriation for salaries and expenses of the University of the Virgin Islands.
– A $2.9 million appropriation from the Government Insurance Fund for operating expenses of the Department of Labor.
– A $1.8 million appropriation from the Indirect Cost Fund for salaries, operating expenses and for other purposes of the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Finance.
– A $2 million appropriation from the Interest Revenue Fund to the General Fund.
– A $2.5 million appropriation from the Caribbean Basin Initiative Fund to the General Fund.
– A $225,000 appropriation from the Special Road Fund to be used for general maintenance on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
– A $391,000 appropriation from the Fish and Game Fund for salaries, operating expenses and for other purposes of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources.
– A $1.6 million appropriation for operating expenses of the Department of Public Works from the Sewage System Fund.
– Transfer of the Office of Collective Bargaining to the Division of Personnel for budgetary purposes only.
– Transfer of the Narcotics Strike Force to the V.I. Police Department for budgetary purposes only.
– A $1.4 million appropriation for the Public Television System.
— A $1.6 million appropriation to the Public Defender's Office.
— A $17.8 milion appropriation to the Territorial Court.
Four bills were tabled indefinately because some are included in the Omnibus Act. The tabled bills seek to adjust retirement contributions, eliminate five government holidays, increase revenue contributions to the General Fund and transfer the Taxi Commission to the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs.
The whole package of budget bills will be addressed Wednesday by the Rules Committee.

Sen. Roosevelt St.C. David said Tuesday the cruise ship industry has not kept their end of the deals made through the recently formed cruise ship task force.
David, who drafted legislation earlier this year that sought to impose a $2.50 head tax on cruise ship passengers said, in a release from his office, the industry's promises have so far been "empty."
"The task force has not reached consensus on vital issues such as, long term operating agreements, increased ships calling for St. Croix and St. Thomas year round, promotions of Cruzan Rum aboard ships and funding for mutually agreed upon capital projects to improve the territory's tourism infrastructure.
The overall costs related to garbage, crowding, traffic, and public safety diminishes the value of the cruise ships, according to David, who believes he should start moving legislation forward again to impose the head tax.
Research done by the senator uncovered information in Fortune magazine that said though 65 percent of the cruise ship industry's profits come from the Caribbean only 1 percent of the taxes captured from the industry goes back into the territory.
David said, "Caribbean cruise ship lines are recording record profits and yet they continue to refuse a $2.50 surcharge."

About 75 members of St. Croix’s tourism industry marched on the Lieutenant Governor’s Office Tuesday morning to protest Michael Bornn’s dismissal as commissioner of Tourism.
Lt. Gov. Gerard Luz James II, however, wasn’t in his office to hear members of the St. Croix Accommodations Council, the St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association, the Chamber of Commerce and Christiansted Restaurant and Retail Associations voice their displeasure with Bornn’s sacking and the dismal state of tourism on St. Croix.
Gov. Charles Turnbull last week withdrew Bornn’s nomination for Tourism commissioner over differences in "operating and management styles." Bornn’s most egregious error, said Turnbull, was "openly" opposing the administration’s effort to have the Senate approve a bill seeking a $300 million bond measure. The bill ultimately passed.
But the people who took to the streets of Christiansted Tuesday said that despite his views on the bond issue, Bornn was the right person to lead Tourism and he should be reinstated. Turnbull has said, however, that he will not resubmit Bornn’s name to the Senate.
Peter Locke, owner of the Chenay Bay Resort and president of the St. Croix Accommodations Council, said Bornn’s ouster illustrated the need to depoliticize the Department of Tourism.
"The governor needs to privatize Tourism to avoid political pork-barreling," Locke said.
Wendel Snider of the Hibiscus Beach Hotel said the Accommodations Council plans to submit draft legislation that would place tourism in the hands of the private sector.
The main reason hoteliers want to privatize is the Hotel Occupancy Tax, which totals approximately $11 million a year. Those funds are, by law, supposed to be deposited in the Tourism Revolving Fund and used to market the territory as a tourism destination. However, much of that revenue has been diverted to meet government obligations.
"In the last four years the hotels in the territory have contributed $36 million into the advertising fund," Snider said. "In that time period the government has spent $400,000. It’s time we privatized Tourism."
Locke called St. Croix’s 45 percent annual occupancy rate a "disgrace." He compared St. Lucia’s 75 percent occupancy rate during September, a traditionally slow month throughout the region, to St. Croix’s 15 percent.
If St. Croix’s occupancy rate could be increased to 75 percent annually, Locke said the island would gain 400 more jobs and collect $4 million more a year.
Meanwhile, St. Croix’s Democrats said in a release Tuesday that they supported Turnbull’s decision to let Bornn go. St. Croix District Chairman Terrence Joseph said a governor’s cabinet members have to work as a team.
"Gov. Turnbull had no choice but to withdraw (Bornn’s) name," the release said.

The cruise lines are the big players in the tourism industry of the Virgin Islands, Edward Thomas, president and chief executive officer of the West Indian Co. Ltd., said Tuesday.
Despite the uncertainty in the leadership of the V.I. government’s Department of Tourism, given last week’s firing of acting Commissioner Michael Bornn, Thomas said the cruise industry is "alive and well."
In an interview with WSTA Radio, Thomas said an all-out effort is being made to book port calls by cruise ships that canceled their regularly scheduled visits as a result of the threat of last month’s Hurricane Jose.
"We are trying to get back on track and retrace some of the cruises," he said, citing as an example the unscheduled visit Wednesday of the S/S Norway.
Thomas said plans are going forward to begin work on the dock to accommodate the larger eagle class ships that will begin calling in the Virgin Islands next fall.
"We have secured the required Army Corps of Engineers' and DPNR permits," Thomas said, noting that work should begin in April and be completed before the opening of the 2000 tourist season. The first of the new class of megaships is scheduled to call on St. Thomas in November.
Thomas also said Monday’s two cruise ship visits to St. Croix show that the marketing and incentive effort to promote the big island as a port of call is yielding positive results.
About a year ago, then-Gov. Roy Schneider tapped Thomas to lead the effort in negotiating additional port calls to St. Croix by cruise lines that regularly call on St. Thomas.
"There is no doubt that the efforts we have put in for St. Croix are working to our advantage," Thomas said.
He also said the construction of an additional berthing dolphin off the Ann Abramson Pier in Frederiksted, St. Croix, will accommodate vessels longer than 900 feet.
Thomas estimated that the Virgin Islands will see 950-970 port calls territorywide in the year 2000. That number will rise to about 1,000 port calls in 2001, he said.

Edward Thomas, president and chief executive officer of the West Indian Company Ltd., said Tuesday that cruise lines are the big players in the tourism industry of the Virgin Islands. Despite the uncertainty in the leadership of the V.I. government’s Department of Tourism, given last week’s firing of Commissioner Michael Bornn, Thomas said the cruise industry is "alive and well."
In an interview with WSTA Radio Thomas said an all-out effort is being made to attract port calls by cruise ships that canceled their regularly scheduled visits as a result of the threat of last month’s Hurricane Jose.
"We are trying to get back on track and retrace some of the cruises," he said. As an example he cited Wednesday's unscheduled visit of the S/S Norway.
On other issues, the WICO head said plans are going forward to begin work on the dock to accommodate the larger Eagle class ships which will begin calling in the Virgin Islands.
"We have secured the required Army Corps of Engineers and DPNR permits," Thomas said, adding that work should begin in April and be completed in time for the opening of the 2000 tourist season. The first of the new class of mega ships is scheduled to call on St. Thomas in November.
Thomas also said Monday’s two cruise ship visits to St. Croix showed that the marketing and incentive effort to promote the big island as a port of call is yielding positive results.
About a year ago, then Gov. Roy Schneider tapped Thomas to negotiate additional port calls to St. Croix by cruise lines which regularly call on St. Thomas.
"There is no doubt that the efforts we have put in for St. Croix are working to our advantage," Thomas said.
He noted that the construction of an additional berthing dolphin off the Ann Abramson Pier in Frederiksted will accommodate vessels longer than 900 feet.
Thomas estimated that the Virgin Islands will see 950 to 970 port calls territory-wide in the year 2000, with that number steadily increasing with up to 1,000 port calls in the territory in 2001.

Dine by candlelight as the Love City Pan Dragons and Baby Pan Dragons hold their third annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner from 6 to 10 p.m. Nov. 20 in Cruz Bay park.
Menu includes turkey and chicken with all the trimmings. There will also be live music.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for children. Purchase tickets at Our Market, Ms. Penn at 693-8807 or ask any Pan Dragon or Baby Pan Dragon parent.

The National Park Service is hosting an open community meeting in the Legislature Building conference room from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to discuss recent and soon-to-come changes affecting the St. John community.
These include the new moorings, efforts to create vessel management and commercial services plans, and an update on park fees. To learn more, call 776-6201, ext. 241.