BIG ORDER: Gov. Kenneth Mapp (middle) and Lt. Gov. Osbert Potter (right) listen as Education Commissioner Sharon McCollum explains why the territory’s schools won’t be in “perfect order” when they open in three weeks.
[ad name=”HTML-68″]CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The territory’s schools won’t be ready when they open in three weeks — but they will be clean.
That was the word Gov. Kenneth Mapp announced at a press conference with V.I. Education Commissioner Sharon McCollum on Wednesday.
Education officials distributed a timeline of when each school on St. Thomas and St. Croix should be ready and how much it is expected to cost to fix them.
The Legislature has appropriated $1.75 million for summer maintenance of the territory’s schools, but that money has yet to be released by the Office of Management and Budget.
Two major credit ratings firms based in the United States have said this week that the territory is using all available government money to continue to make payroll for government employees every two weeks — and downgraded the Virgin Islands bonds as a result.