April 24, 2007 – At 6:35 a.m. Tuesday, St. Thomas St. John Superintendent of Schools Lisa Hassel-Forde announced the closing of public schools in the St. Thomas – St. John district due to the heavy rain over the last few days. "After an assessment of school campuses which began in the pre-dawn hours of today, it was determined that as a result of flooding on various campuses, it is prudent to cancel classes for the day today," Hassel-Forde said.
Hassel-Forde consulted with both acting Education Commissioner Lauren Larsen and Gov. John P. deJongh Jr. to update them about conditions particularly at the Ulla Muller Elementary School and Addelita Cancryn Junior High School, where significant flooding was noted on portions of the campus, a release from Government House said.
After assessing St. Croix schools Larsen said that district should remain open and operate under its usual schedule. St. Croix Superintendent Jewel-Ross Brathwaite told Larsen there were no reports of major problems at the schools and therefore the decision was made to keep St. Croix public schools open, Larsen said Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, the Virgin Islands Government will operate as usual. DeJongh said that while there has been significant rainfall overnight and there is some localized flooding in some areas, the conditions do not warrant the shutting down government operations at this time. "More wet weather is in the forecast today, and if necessary, we will re-assess the situation as the day goes on and adjust the working hours of the government as we deem necessary," deJongh said.
