When the 2025–2026 school year begins Wednesday, thousands of Virgin Islands students will return to classrooms in varying states of readiness — some with newly polished floors and repaired air-conditioning units, others with mold warnings, partial schedules, and unfinished repairs that lawmakers say could have been addressed months ago.
Sen. Kurt Vialet, chair of the Senate Committee on Education, said he began sounding the alarm in February after touring every public school in the territory and identifying critical projects that needed to be completed over the summer. Those included roof and mold remediation at John H. Woodson Junior High, kitchen repairs at Claude O. Markoe and Eulalie Rivera, and air-conditioning installations at the St. Croix Educational Complex. In April and May, he pressed Education officials and the Bureau of School Construction to issue purchase orders early and get crews on site as soon as classes ended in June.
By the time Vialet and fellow senators toured campuses again in August, he said, the delays were obvious — particularly on St. Croix, where some work orders weren’t approved until late July, and in some cases on the same day lawmakers were walking the halls. “Nothing taking place now is what I predicted back in February,” Vialet said Tuesday. “This is the third year Complex is starting on a shortened bell schedule and the fourth or fifth year Woodson won’t have a normal school year.”
The consequences are immediate. On St. Croix, the Education Complex, Central High, and CTEC will dismiss students at 1 p.m. due to heat and incomplete AC work. Woodson will remain closed until roof repairs, deep cleaning, and post-remediation testing are complete — a process Vialet said should wrap up by the end of the month. When he visited in August, the mold odor in classrooms was so strong “there was no way the school could reopen” as scheduled.
Vialet also raised concerns about uneven progress between districts. While he said St. Thomas schools were generally in better shape, some projects there ground to a halt when contractors walked off job sites over nonpayment. The companies had expected to be paid with American Rescue Plan Act funds, but delays in accessing those funds stalled work. The Legislature has since boosted the government’s line of credit to $200 million, allowing agencies to pay contractors upfront and seek federal reimbursement later — a step Vialet believes should get stalled projects moving.
One St. Thomas campus facing particular challenges is Charlotte Amalie High School. Vialet said the school is grappling with space constraints due to the planned demolition of the cafeteria, gymnasium, and auditorium, forcing most activities into the Sprung shelter. Air-conditioning units for the main office and auditorium are expected within four weeks but will not be installed in time for the first day of school.
Sen. Avery Lewis, vice chair of the Education Committee, toured schools on all three islands in late July and shared similar observations. At Ivanna Eudora Kean High School on St. Thomas, he said multiple classrooms and the gym still lacked working AC. At Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School, crews were cleaning floors, installing a new generator, and waiting on AC replacements for the auditorium. Charlotte Amalie High, he noted, was undergoing mold testing and remediation by contractor REF, with work also underway on the social studies annex, special education classrooms, the cottage, bathrooms, and the cafeteria under J. Benton. With so many classes still in the Sprung shelters, he warned, “it really, really is hot” without functioning air-conditioning.
Some campuses were in better shape. Lewis noted that Ulla Muller Elementary’s floors were freshly polished, kitchen equipment was being tested, and bathroom repairs were underway. But at Yvonne Milliner Bowsky Elementary, he said mold complaints remained unresolved, and he was “not pleased at all” with the overall condition. At Gomez Elementary, restrooms needed valve replacements to prevent constant running water, and the campus required a paint job and power upgrades for modular classrooms.
On St. John, Julius Sprauve School had patched holes in classroom floors and installed portable AC units in modular classrooms. But Lewis said those units can’t run simultaneously without tripping the power, and electrical upgrades are needed to keep them functioning reliably.
Both senators praised principals and teachers who came in early to prepare classrooms — and said that schools where administrators were visibly present over the summer had noticeably more progress. But they agreed the root problem is the lack of a coordinated, year-round plan between Education, the Bureau of School Construction, Property and Procurement, Finance, and the Office of Management and Budget.
“We need to call all the parties into one room and work out the payment and scheduling issues so these projects get done before the first day of school, not weeks after,” Vialet said.
Lewis added that while the department has made progress in some areas, the territory needs to aim higher. “I keep asking for that wow effect when we open a school year,” he said. “Our children are going through some rough times. We need to give them an environment that feels new, safe, and ready on day one.”
