Commissioner Says Rebuilt Schools Will Change the Face of Education in Territory

Virgin Islands schools had a rough start this school year, with air quality issues, a heat wave, and a landfill fire causing closures. However, Dionne Wells-Hedrington, commissioner for the Education Department, was able to give a positive report to the Senate’s Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure and Planning Committee on Monday.

The positive spin was easy to make as she rolled out the names of schools being rebuilt.

Construction at Arthur A. Richards Junior High School has already started at the former Edith Williams campus. It will serve more than 1,000 students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.

Contracts have been signed to construct a new Central High School and a new Charlotte Amalie High School. The St. Croix school will serve 1,195 students, and the St. Thomas one, 1,500 students.

Wells-Hedrington said strategies are planned so all students can continue attending school while the buildings are being constructed. She added that the new buildings were making allowances for the growth in the number of students in the territory and for new teaching methods.

Julius E. Sprauve Elementary, which will hold 460 students; Alexander Henderson Elementary, which will hold 575 students; Lockhart Elementary and Claude O. Markoe Elementary, which will hold 1,070 students, are in the design stage. Henderson School has been closed since 2019.

Committee Chair Sen. Milton Potter questioned whether the territory would be able to come up with the 10 percent local matching funds for the school projects.

Wells-Hedrington said she was “very optimistic” that the matching funds would be there when needed.