Senators on Tuesday advanced two property bills that would shift government land and buildings to support the reconstruction of Charlotte Amalie High School and expand services for homeless and low-income residents.
The Senate Budget, Appropriations and Finance Committee unanimously approved Bill 36-0257, which would take a key parcel next to Charlotte Amalie High School out of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority’s portfolio and place it under the Property and Procurement Department for the exclusive use of the Education Department.
The bill covers Parcel 2C, Estate Ross on St. Thomas, where Education already uses two buildings. Officials said the land is needed as a construction lay-down area and, long term, for parking, safer access and expansion as CAHS is rebuilt.
Sen. Avery Lewis, the bill’s sponsor, said the campus has been forced to use up its limited space for years. Education officials have described the school as effectively landlocked, with little room to grow, and Lewis noted it has already turned its running track into classrooms, leaving students with fewer athletic options.
“At its core, this bill is about education. It is about ensuring that the Charlotte Amalie High School has the space, stability and long-term capacity it needs to serve our students, not just today, but for generations to come,” Lewis said.
Education Commissioner Dionne Wells-Hedrington said the land transfer is critical to the territory’s $3.5 billion FEMA grant cap for school rebuilding.
“This is a capped grant … the longer we wait, the more it costs,” she told senators. “Stated another way, the longer we take to build, the less we will be able to build. Time is of the essence.”
She noted that, unlike other high schools, CAHS has no extra land, forcing the department to lease Parcel 2C from the Housing Finance Authority to stage demolition and construction. Under a renegotiated lease, she said, the department now pays about $78,000 a year for the same land covered by the bill, money she argued could be better spent on the project itself.
The Office of Disaster Recovery and Property and Procurement also submitted testimony supporting the transfer as necessary to keep the CAHS rebuild on schedule and make better use of public land.
The committee adopted an amendment to clarify that the land would be deeded to Property and Procurement, not directly to Education, and to have that department handle the survey and recording of the new parcel. Assistant Commissioner Vincent Richards said that change “places the property under the jurisdiction of the agency best suited to advance its intended public purpose.”
VIHFA, in written testimony, opposed the original bill, citing the active lease, ongoing talks about siting law‑enforcement facilities there with the Virgin Islands Police Department and the loss of what VIHFA Executive Director Eugene Jones Jr. called a “strategically positioned asset” that “is not surplus land.”
Senators acknowledged those concerns, and some worried about losing land that could otherwise support housing and public safety, but ultimately voted 7‑0 to send the amended bill to the Rules and Judiciary Committee.
Lewis said after the vote that the territory has “short‑changed” CAHS students through hurricanes and delays. “No more short‑changing,” he said. “This is a step forward.”
In a separate unanimous vote, the committee advanced Bill 36‑0275, which would sharply cut the rent on a government‑owned former senior center in Estate Anna’s Retreat so Hearts in Service Association Inc. can expand services for homeless and low‑income residents.
The amendment covers Parcel 175C, Estate Anna’s Retreat No. 1, St. Thomas, a deteriorated two-story concrete structure that once housed a senior citizens’ center. It would reduce the annual rent from $12,000 to $1,200, or from $1,000 to $100 a month, lower the liability insurance requirement from $3 million to $1 million and remove an automatic rent escalation clause. Richards said the change brings the lease in line with the department’s current policy for nonprofits.
“We found it necessary and right and just that we adjust this lease agreement to make sure that this project is viable,” Richards told senators.
Hearts in Service, a faith‑based nonprofit founded in 2004, plans to convert the building into a “one‑stop centralized outreach center” with a daily soup kitchen, life‑skills classes and case management and other support services for homeless families, individuals, veterans and at‑risk youth. Executive Director Beverly Stephens-Samuel said the previous rent was a major obstacle even before renovations could start.
“At this early stage, before funding has been fully secured and before renovations can even begin, this cost presents a significant challenge,” she said. “We respectfully request that the lease be at a rate of $100 a month.”
Hearts in Service representatives said the nonprofit has already paid about $41,000 in rent under the old terms and spent more than $63,000 on consultants, while relying on a $100,000 annual human‑services appropriation and an annual Mother’s Day fundraiser to keep operating.
“By granting this request, you are simply not lowering a lease,” she told senators. “You are helping to lay the foundation for a resource hub that can reduce homelessness, support working families and strengthen our community as a whole.”
Both bills now head to the Senate’s Rules and Judiciary Committee for further review before any final vote by the full Legislature.
