May 17, 2001 – Vernelle de Lagarde will be the new president of the St. Thomas-St. John Federation of Teachers effective Aug. 31, when current AFT President Glen J. Smith steps down.
De Lagarde previously served as the first vice president. Smith, who has served 10 terms, sought, but did not win a seat in the 24th Legislature. In a release Thursday from the AFT, Smith said if he ever ran for public office he would not seek re-election to the union post.
He said de Lagarde was a "twenty year veteran of the union who has served in various capacity [sic] and will perform very well as our third elected president/CEO."
In fact, de Lagarde had her trial by fire last fall during the teacher's strike that shut down the public schools for weeks, when she was serving as interim president while Smith was campaigning.
The release did not say exactly when the "recent elections of officers for the years 2001-2003" had taken place.
Here is a list of the newly elected officers:
President – de Lagarde,
First vice president – Alrid Lockhart.
Second vice president – Sidney Bell
Third vice president – Roi Simmonds
Fourth vice president — Valerie Johnson,
Fifth vice president – Lydia Gumbs
Recording secretary – Clemmie Moses
Corresponding Secretary – Rubye Tisdale-Todman
Treasurer – Richard Brown
Paraprofessional unit
Vice-chairperson – Pauline Lynch-Benitez
Secretary – Jennifer Lake
Support staff unit
Vice-chairperson – C. Diana Smith
Secretary – Diana Matthew