Jan. 28, 2009 — Representatives of the Department of Education and the St. Croix Federation of Teachers reached an agreement Wednesday, with both sides accepting a school calendar that provides the required 1,080 hours of instruction for the students of John H. Woodson Junior High School.
"We're finally doing what we should have done in the beginning," said St. Croix Superintendent Gary Molloy as the negotiations pushed into their final hour Wednesday.
The agreement, reached after a full day of behind-the-scenes negotiations, brings to a close the wrangling that has plagued the school since the beginning of the school year in August and which reached its height Jan. 12. On that day teachers at the school refused to obey a district order to add 45 minutes of instruction to the school day to make up for time lost due to Hurricane Omar and problems in the buildings that turned classrooms into ovens during some days in the fall. Following the teachers' action Jan. 12, the Department of Education sought and got a temporary restraining order forcing teachers to follow the new calendar. The department sought to have the order made a permanent injunction, and that hearing was scheduled to continue Wednesday morning.
Instead, both sides went back to the bargaining table and eventually came up with a plan they could all agree on.
In the agreement, the Woodson teachers agreed to continue the extended school day at Woodson through June 3. The teachers begin instruction at 7:30 a.m. instead of 7:45, and continue teaching until 3:30 p.m. instead of 3.
After June 3, the calendar goes back to the regular schedule through the end of the school year. The last day of school will be June 15, the same as the rest of the schools in the district, instead of June 26, which had been part of the Department of Education's plan.
The teachers' union agreed to drop unfair labor practice charges and portions of a grievance charging the department with failure to bargain over the extended school day.
"It's never too late to do the right thing," said Tyrone Molyneaux, president of the teacher's union, as V.I. Education Commissioner La Verne Terry announced the agreement.
The agreement came after a long day of negotiations. Both sides came to court for the scheduled 9 a.m. continuation of the hearing expecting another day of testimony and legal arguments. But Superior Court Judge Francis J. D'Eramo recessed immediately, and when he resumed the hearing five minutes later, it was only to announce that it had been continued until 1 p.m.
Leaving the courtroom, Assistant Attorney General Robert Molloy, representing the Department of Education, was asked how long he thought the session might last. He pointed to the teachers' attorney, Emile Henderson III.
"Ask him," Molloy said. "He plans to call 20 witnesses."
The planned 20 witnesses were all Woodson teachers, and there was some concern about who would run the school if they were all at the courthouse testifying.
At 1 p.m. the courtroom was still locked after lunch, and the session had been rescheduled until 2:30 p.m. At 2:30, Judge D'Eramo announced that it had been delayed again, until 4 p.m.
At 4 p.m. there were a handful of spectators and court officials roaming in and out of the courtroom, but the session was not called to order. As the afternoon began turning to evening and with a feeling of expectancy growing, different pairings of attorneys and union and Education officials talked earnestly as they went in and out of the room.
At 5:30 p.m. Jessica Gallivan, the chief negotiator for the Virgin Islands, and teacher rep Molyneaux leaned over a document. She pointed at a particular passage which he leaned forward to read. Then they both left the courtroom. Returning 10 minutes later, Gallivan gave Molyneaux the key to her car so that he could go down to the parking lot and bring in her laptop computer.
"Tyrone's being a gentleman," she joked.
At 5:55 Molloy began packing the law books and documents from the counsel's table back into his bags. When Gallivan got her laptop, she began typing and various people from both sides took turns reading the document as she worked.
Even then, the process dragged on, but at 6:40 Gallivan, who had walked down the aisle toward the courtroom door, told an audience member, "All we're waiting on now is the exhibits."
At 7:12 attorney Molloy handed his counterpart Henderson a two-page document. Henderson read it, then looked up and said, "Yes. OK."
The document made the rounds of the officials in the courtroom, eventually getting signed by Gallivan, Molyneaux, Terry, Molloy and Henderson.
At 7:45 p.m. there was a round of handshakes, then the officials came back down the aisle to announce the agreement.
Judge D'Eramo stuck his head into his courtroom several times during the proceedings, but never took the bench.
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