As children donned their uniforms and headed for the bus stops for the first day of school, a lingering question remained about what public education would look like on St. Croix in the first school year post-Hovensa.
After the refinery announced its closing, speculation ran wild that the loss of high-paying jobs and the scholarships the company offered would send a flood of students out of private schools and into the public system.
“We’re seeing more parents having to make the decision to choose public education,” said Gary Malloy, superintendent of the St. Croix school district.
He said that the district has enrolled approximately 1,000 new students in grades first-12th, but cautioned that it did not necessarily mean the district would have 1,000 more students than last year.
Malloy said the district still does not know how many of its previously enrolled students have left the island. The district will wait 10 days and then remove the no-shows from the rolls. Only then will they have a clear picture of the district’s total enrollment.
Early signs point to an increase, but not a drastic one.
“We do see that some schools are having larger class sizes than they’ve had,” Malloy said, but then added that it was nothing the school district couldn’t handle.
A quick survey of school principals today confirmed Malloy’s assessment.
Assistant Principal Vincent Gordon Jr. said Central High School is seeing a good number of new faces, but so far the school has had no trouble accommodating all of them. He said it was too soon to speculate on just how high the school’s enrollment will be this year.
“We’re still getting students coming in,” he said. “We have late orientation tomorrow afternoon in the gymnasium.”
Joanna Brow, the principal of Eulalie Rivera Elementary School, said the loss of teachers at her school was a bigger issue than the influx of new students.
“I had three teachers who retired and teachers who have relocated,” she said.
Brow was not worried, however, saying that the school could cope. Normally each grade level has three teachers, but Brow said they could make do with just two.
She said that class sizes had increased in some grades to 28 or 29 students per room, but would not exceed the legally mandated limit of 30 for elementary classes.
Brow was more eager to talk about the school’s academic goals for the coming years.
She said the school was putting in special effort to boost its students’ literacy skills, unveiling a slew of new reading and writing programs.
Brow expressed hope that parents would get involved as well and make reading a regular part of the students’ home lives.
At the Good Hope School, which had its first day last Monday, the loss of students to public schools was readily apparent.
“We knew that we were going to be smaller,” said Raquel Cedano, the head of school. “But we’re definitely in a great position this school year. We’ve started this school year positively and there’s really a great feeling on campus.”
Cedano said she heard all of the rumors last year about how the closure of Hovensa would cripple private schools and found them to be overblown.
“After the announcement in January, people made a lot of speculations,” she said. “People would tell me things, and I’d have to say, ‘No, that’s not the case.’”
Cedano said the school would continue to market itself and gradually rebuild its enrollment, but for the time being morale remains high amongst the faculty and students.
This was a common refrain heard from all of the schools’ principals. Everyone said the teachers were eager to tackle the new school year, and the students—despite some grumblings about cafeteria food, homework and waking up early—were happy to be back too.
“Our students are always eager to come back,” Gordon said. “We’re like a microcosm of society, so this is an opportunity to associate and to socialize with their peers, and they do enjoy that.”
Brow was a bit more straightforward with her explanation:
“After being at home for a long time with their parents and other siblings, they look forward to coming here.”