Foodstuff Left to Rot in Trailers, Multiple Fire Hazards and More: Annual Safety Report Reveals Health and Safety Code Violations in V.I. Public Schools
A number of schools in the U.S. Virgin Islands are so unfit for purpose that they should be demolished, according to the V.I. Fire Service, which recently published a comprehensive report that included information about life-threatening safety violations that exist in several of the territory's school plants.
2022-07-05 13:02:55 - VI News Staff
The Fire Service's report forms part of the V.I. Board of Education's 179-page assessment of public schools in the VI for the 2021-2022 school year. The annual assessment is based on school walkthroughs, ancillary agency reports, and the V.I. Dept. of Education's responses to inquiries.
For its part, the Fire Service inspected and reported on seven elementary schools, one high school and one vocational school, all in the St. Croix district, and found that the majority of these institutions had at least one health violation.
Henry Joseph, St. Croix Fire Marshal, wrote that the schools were in deplorable condition with multiple code violations, and said that it was his honest and professional recommendation that they be torn down and rebuilt in line with the most recent health, fire, life safety, and national electrical codes that are in force.
Some schools were found with code violations which had been previously reported to Dept. of Education officials, such as John H. Woodson Jr. High School, which has no fire extinguisher system, no fire alarm system, and no smoke detectors, according to the report.
"There are areas on the campus where the emergency strobe lights and alarm boxes are hanging by the wires," the report reads in part. The extinguisher in the wood working classroom was expired, and the V.I. Fire Service noted several hazards, including wires hanging from an electrical box, and numerous flammable substances such as solvents and paints left exposed on work tables without supervision.
At the St. Croix Educational Complex, the "entire facility" was found to have leaking pipes, while the male locker rooms and restrooms featured exposed wiring and holes dug into the concrete walls.
Other schools did not have sufficient means of egress which would allow occupants of the buildings to escape during a fire emergency. Faulty alarm systems were also a concern along with fire extinguishers that needed to be serviced and, in some cases, exit signs and emergency lights were found to be either non-functional or non-existent.
Apart from the fire hazards, the report detailed concerns about about safety issues that were discovered. At some schools, intercoms were either missing or non-existent throughout the entire campus. Surveillance cameras have stood non-operational since the 2017 hurricanes. Schools have limited practice drills for active shooter lock downs and earthquakes, among other hazards.
The merger of school campuses in both districts was an issue of significant concern for the Board of Education, which explained that it found "no evidence of a clear plan to address the excessive school fights and school safety.” The report found that the existing security challenges that come with the territory's open campuses are heightened by poorly maintained infrastructure — downed fences, broken doors and gates.
Principals who forwarded repair requests to the maintenance division had no ability to track the progress of those requests or estimate when the requested repairs would be attended to or completed. The Board of Education's report stated that school administrators were "not notified when contractors are scheduled to execute work systematically." Other areas of neglect include lack of adequate storage, leaks, lighting, and deep cleaning, to name a few. The number of issues requiring attention is extensive — replacing ceiling tiles, restroom faucets, toilets, and kitchen equipment (including walk-in coolers and freezers), are just a small fraction.