CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Governor Albert Bryan Jr, issued the following statement concerning school maintenance and other updates provided by the Department of Education during a press conference today.
“Our administration shares the concerns families have for a safe and conducive school environment for their children and continues to make the safety of the students, faculty, and staff in our territory’s schools our top priority,” Bryan said.
“School maintenance for the Department of Education is a continuing process, and that process has its challenges. We are dealing with aging structures, like the Charlotte Amalie High School. These challenges are decades-old and not new to this administration. School maintenance is further complicated by the damages our school campuses have endured since the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.”
“We are, however, prepared and committed to confronting these challenges. That is why we have, in our proposed fiscal year 2020 budget, set aside $2 million for school maintenance– a figure that is substantially more than has been allocated in recent years.
“I have full confidence that Commissioner Berry-Benjamin, and our District Insular Superintendents, along with DOE’s Operations team, our teachers and the rest of the DOE staff will ensure a safe and conducive school environment for our students this school year.”