Feb. 15, 2002 – Assistant Education Commissioner Noreen Michael said Friday she was investigating charges by Sen. Norman Jn Baptiste on Thursday that some seniors at Charlotte Amalie High School will not be able to graduate with their class this year because they are lacking credits as a result of teacher vacancies.
Jn Baptiste, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said in a letter to Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds Thursday that it is his understanding that the school lacks the teachers for the required courses. "It has been brought to my attention that due to teacher vacancies at CAHS, seniors who would otherwise be slated for graduation in June 2002 will be forced to return for an additional semester to complete their requisite courses," Jn. Baptiste wrote Simmonds.
Michael said she was aware of the allegations but did not wish to comment Friday morning until she had thoroughly looked into the matter. She promised a statement Friday afternoon. Shortly afterward, Rosalia Payne, St. Thomas-St. John district superintendent, advised the Source that Michael would be issuing such a release "before noon."
Simmonds is in Washington, D.C., along with Gov. Charles W. Turnbull to attend a three-day U.S. Department of Education orientation to prepare state and territorial education officials for implementing President Bush's Reading First program to ensure that every child in the nation's schools can read by the third grade.
"It is unconscionable to perceive that the future of the territory's senior high school students continues to be jeopardized by what is an apparent lack of proper planning and management by the Department of Education," Jn Baptiste wrote in his letter to Simmonds.
He recounted that three of the territory's four public high school had been informed that their accreditation was being withdrawn. The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools advised Central, Charlotte Amalie and Ivanna Eudora Kean High Schools in November that their accreditation would be withdrawn as of Dec. 31 because of failure to correct deficiencies dating back at least to 1997. The territory's appeal of the action is to be heard on Feb. 28.
"The senior year of high school is to be one of the most exciting times in a student's life," Jn Baptiste wrote, "It is unfortunate that members of the Class of 2002 have been plagued with anxiety and uncertainty. Simmonds, he said, should "immediately investigate and resolve this problem to ensure that the hopes and dreams of our high school seniors are not further deferred."
Part of the problem, according to several teachers who did not wish to be named, is the long delay in processing NOPA's — the government's notices of personnel action — which must be completed for a government employee to get on the payroll. One teacher who had been waiting since December finally got her NOPA last week after having taught in the meantime with the hope that she would be paid for the work. Her name was already in the system, because she is a re-hire.
Another teacher waited from August to November for her first paycheck and finally was forced to quit before it was issued in November. These stories are not out of the ordinary, according to the teachers.
Payne, speaking on WVWI Radio on Friday morning, said Jn Baptiste should call the people involved and get his facts before making allegations. On Friday morning, the Source tried to reach Payne, Simmonds, Education spokeswoman Juel Anderson and CAHS Principal Jeanette Smith before finally being able to reach Michael for comment.