Tradewinds,
To: Sens. David, Duggins, Figueroa-Serville, Hill, James, Malone, Nelson, Richards, White, Barshinger, Berry, Donastorg, Russell, and Encarnacion
Good Day Everyone,
I am a parent and the PTO Vice President of Guy Benjamin School on St. John.
Please find the attached photos of Guy Benjamin School as of April 24, 2006. These conditions are not acceptable. This email is to make you aware of the deplorable conditions at Guy Benjamin School with the exception of Deputy Superintendents Dr. Bello, Lisa Forde, and Superintendent Emily Carter, in which they are fully aware of the continuously deteriorating conditions of our school. This situation is not isolated to Guy Benjamin School alone. Conditions similar to these and others can be found at the schools throughout the territory.
Something needs to be done for our children of the Virgins Islands and the conditions of which they are being exposed to in their learning environment.
We as taxpayers are not getting what we pay for nor, has our government leaders followed through on the promises they have made to get them elected into office.
We are in year 8 of Gov. Turnbull in office and he has done nothing for our children of the Virgin Islands but get millions of dollars sent back to Washington each year. As Gov. Turnball continues to call himself an educator, he allowed our schools to lose their accreditation.
I speak on behalf of the community, the citizens of the Virgin Islands, we want to know what is going to be done for our children to be taught by qualified teachers, and to make the learning environment healthy for the minds of our children, the future of the Virgin Islands? This is a very important year of change and only action speaks louder than words.
We have immediate needs to be addressed at Guy Benjamin School and need to see action. Our school has received written warning of violations of health codes per the Virgin Islands Health Department on March 21, 2006. To date, no action has been taken to correct these violations.
Dr. Bello sent some carpenters to the school on April 20, 2006, and the only thing the carpenters did was put together cabinets for some of the rooms. Today, still no action as to correcting the issues in violation.
We, the PTO of Guy Benjamin School, truly look forward to your reply.
Kristen Cox
PTO Vice President