Teacher Struck by Student, Another Followed Home — Condition at Lockhart K-8 Exposed as Dept. of Education Responds

Following a teacher job action at the Lockhart K-8 School on Wednesday, which resulted in the early release of students from grades 4 to 8, the V.I. Department of Education has issued a statement addressing the recent disturbances. The job action is attributed to teachers expressing concerns over working conditions and disciplinary issues with students.

The statement comes in the wake of reports of violence and threats against educators by both students and parents.

St. Thomas-St. John District AFT President Leontyne Jones told the Consortium that the job action was precipitated by several events, including lack of communication between teachers and the administrative leadership, infrastructure deficiencies, and teacher safety. "Some students had either threatened or assaulted some teachers," Ms. Jones said.

One individual, Shenica Grant, voiced her support for the teachers and highlighted the need for decisive action against the students responsible for the threats. She said some of the students are extremely ill-mannered, and shared the blame for this behavior on parents who fail to discipline their children and in some instances empower their behavior.

Commenting rhetorically, she said, "It's okay for them to disrespect an adult, it's okay for them to threaten harm and physical violence... it's okay for them to pitch rocks at and lock their teachers out of their classrooms... it's okay for them to show prejudice against teachers that don't look like them (thee unmitigated gall of these Black children being prejudicial).