CHRISTIANSTED – While the assessment of damage and losses is still being completed for educational facilities across the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has qualified the USVI for $107 million in assistance for temporary classrooms for the 2018-19 school year, which begins on September 4, 2018.
Making the announcement at a Friday news conference, Governor Kenneth Mapp said that while 11 schools were condemned following last September’s storms, a selection of schools are now slated for summer repairs, others will receive temporary modular classrooms and a number will be demolished and rebuilt.
Mapp talked about the ongoing repairs to Joseph Gomez Elementary and Ulla F. Muller Elementary schools on St. Thomas. On St. Croix, the targeted schools include Alfredo Andrews Elementary, Alexander Henderson Elementary, John H. Woodson Junior High and Pearl B. Larsen Elementary as well as the main facility at Eulalie Rivera Elementary. Repairs are expected to be completed by the start of the academic year.
The other $15 million will be used for the purchase and placement of 120 modular classrooms and 37 Canadian Sprung structures for gymnasiums, kitchens, cafeterias and administration buildings.
Julius E. Sprauve School on St. John; Arthur A. Richards Junior High School and one of the wings of Eulalie Rivera on St. Croix; and Addelita Cancryn Junior High School, E. Benjamin Oliver Elementary School, and the Curriculum Center on St. Thomas will be demolished and rebuilt.
At least two schools are slated for relocation. Julius Sprauve will be relocated and designated to serve as St. John’s primary public shelter, and Addelita Cancryn on St. Thomas is likely to be moved near the University of the Virgin Islands.
“The United States Virgin Islands has an unprecedented opportunity to be restored and recover better than ever due to the support of the Trump administration, FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers and other federal partners,” Governor Mapp stated.
The U.S. Congress voted in February to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, allowing for relief funds to be used to improve damaged infrastructure rather than to simply rebuild to pre-disaster conditions. Mapp said this change to federal law, for which he and his team lobbied, allows the territory to access an exceptional level of financial and technical assistance.
During the news conference, Mapp encouraged members of the Virgin Islands Legislature to work with his Administration to implement a vision for a better Virgin Islands. He stated he had previously asked members for their input on how to spend discretionary relief funding, but that, to date, information had not been submitted.
“Although this is a political year … we really have to concentrate on working together for the betterment of the territory,” the Governor said, who noted “we have a real opportunity to invest in the Virgin Islands.”
Mapp said that he will be out of the territory from Monday, April 9 to Friday, April 13 to meet with heads of the executive branch and agencies in Washington, D.C.
During his absence, Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter will serve as Acting Governor.
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