Wednesday, February 25, a meeting between Sen. Kurt Vialet and concerned residents took place at Croix Educational Complex regarding the build up of molds that could affect the health of the students of Alexander Henderson Elementary School.
At the meeting, the issue regarding why the government is not prioritizing the development of the school’s education was also tackled.
One concerned women that was a former student of the school said, ““[It’s been happening] since I’ve been going to school, and I’m 26 now.”
“I was going there since I’ve been in 2nd grade, and this mold issue has been a problem. But you mean to tell me, this little bit of rain happened and caused this fiberglass situation? Okay, that could have happened, but the mold issue is a big thing going on here. Now, for them to say that they’re going to wipe off everything? Mold is a serious situation, and if they couldn’t do it in the last couple of years, how are they going to do it in fifteen days?
“And then, [Assistant Commissioner Charmaine Hobson-Johnson] said it’s a transition for the children and it’s an experience. [Well] this is not a situation they need to be experiencing now, when they’re supposed to be moving to the next level. So, if some of these children start failing in their work, you mean to tell me that they’re going to stay back because the transition didn’t work well with them? That’s not right,” the woman added.
As a solution, Henderson students are distributed to different schools of St. Croix. Students in Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grades will be placed at Eulalie R. Rivera, which is also known as Grove Place school; students in 3rd and 5th Grades will transfer to Charles H. Emmanuel; students in 4th Grade, will be put at Claude O. Markoe Elementary School; and those in 6th Grade, or enrolled in a gifted or talented class will be placed at Authur A. Richards Junior High School.
One concerned mother raised her concerns saying, “That’s next to Grove Place — I’m not saying it in a bad way, but you understand what I’m saying. All these kids having lunch together, how many monitors are going to be down there watching all of these children? Who knows if these kids are going to be bullied? You never know.”
While, one school counselor who also attended the meeting due to his nephew that’s a Henderson student, though sympathizing with the parents said, “children are resilient and they will adapt. Parents need to calm their heads.”
When the concerned mother was asked what would be her suggestions as a rather solution to the issue she said, “I think that, honestly, that mold issue has been going on for years. Just the same way how they closed Patrick Sweeney Police Headquarters because it was infested with mold, is the same way they need to close [Henderson] and build another school.
“It’s going to take some time, but the same way they had money and they find money to do certain things, they need to find money to fix these schools for the children and make them look like schools,” she said.
Some parents said that new schools should be funded and established at the territory. Vialet responded to this and said that though the suggestion is a good idea, it would not fix the current problem, instead, regular maintenance of the facilities should be implemented.
“I heard a lot of people saying let’s build a new school, but even if you were supposed to start today and say that we’re going to build a new school, to get the financing, to develop plans, to get a contractor and put out an RFP, you’re looking at two years down the line,” he said.
“A new school is not going to go up in six or seven months if you’re going to do it right,” Vialet added. “So a new school right now wouldn’t be a solution for what we’re presently going through.”
He continued: “And we don’t need one new school, we need multiple new schools because the facilities are aging, and there’s been a lack of maintenance over the years.
“So right now I think the focus of the Department of Education must be the need to hire maintenance personnel at all schools so that small problems don’t become huge problems. You have a small like, a trickle, you don’t address it, and eventually it’s a river. We need that maintenance staff, on the school site, with specific directives that they are to look at, repair what they can, and what they can’t, they need to contract out as quickly as possible.
“Because there are some problems that could have been fixed by spending ten or twenty thousand dollars, but we said we didn’t have any money, and then we wait until it becomes a problem that’s going to cost us one hundred to two hundred thousand dollars. So, we need to systematically go through all the schools and fix those areas that need to be fixed now to stop this mold growing up”
Students of Alexander Henderson Elementary School Dispersed Due to Mold Threat
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