Wednesday, August 25: Grades 1-6 – Students are to report at 7:50 a.m. in full uniform for the first full day of teaching and learning.
Thursday, August 26: Kindergarten — Students with last names A-M are to report to school at 7:50 a.m. All other kindergarten students are to remain at home.
Friday, August 27: Kindergarten — Students with last names N-Z are to report to school at 7:50 a.m. All other kindergarten students are to remain at home.
** Orientation for parents/guardians of kindergarten age students will be held from 8 .am. to 12 noon on August 26 and 27.
Monday, August 30: Kindergarten — The first full day of teaching and learning will be conducted.

Tropical storm Cindy lost organization and was downgraded from its brief hurricane status Sunday night. Cindy is still far from the Virgin Islands and weather services predict the storm will regain strength before passing to the northeast.
All weather services emphasize that long-term projections are subject to change and islanders should continue to monitor weather reports.
Virgin Islanders making their fall hurricane season preparations over the weekend were interrupted by rains from a strong tropical wave passing to the north of the area Sunday and Monday. The National Weather Service issued flash flood watches Sunday for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
A flash flood watch means flash flooding is possible within the watch area. People in the watch area are advised to take precautionary measures, keep informed and be ready for quick action if flash flooding is observed or a warning is issued, according to the Weather Service. The watch continues until noon Monday.
Editor's note: For detailed weather information, including regular updates on Cindy's progress, click on the rainbow icon above the menu on St. Thomas Source or St. Croix Source.

Residents are following the track of Hurricane Cindy, wary of this season's first possible threat to the area.
According to weather service reports, Cindy is more than 1,800 miles to the east of the Virgin Islands (at 4 a.m. Sunday). The storm is expected to strengthen over the next few days.
Early forecasts predict the storm will pass to the north of the Virgin Islands, but all weather services note that conditions can change in the several days that it will take for Cindy to move into the area.
Boaters in particular were talking of early preparation for the storm.
Charles Steely, with two boats to take care of, said, "Well, the first one may not be close, but I'm going through my full preparation now to be ready for the storms that follow."
Land-bound residents are also preparing for September — traditionally the worst month in terms of hurricanes in the Virgin Islands.
Gary Rosenthal and his wife, Judee Slosky, plant to spendng Sunday boarding up in preparation for September storms.
"We did it last year," Slosky said. "And I felt much better knowing we were prepared."
Businesses were preparing, too. Pat Bailey, supervisor of construction for Little Switzerland, spent Friday overseeing the annual installation of storm shutters at corporate offices in Sub Base.
Hurricane Marilyn hit St. Thomas with devastating effect on Sept. 15, 1995. Hurricane Hugo leveled St. Croix in September 1989.
Editor's note: For regular updates of Cindy's progress, click on the rainbow icon above the menu on St. Thomas Source or St. Croix Source.

With efforts already under way to put together an economic strategy for the territory, a bill that would have the Legislature do the same was held in a Senate committee Friday.
At the Senate’s Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, members were told that two committees appointed by the executive branch, the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Committee and the Economic Recovery Task Force, are both working on five-year financial recovery plans.
Because of those efforts, Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole requested that his proposal to have the Senate establish and implement its own financial recovery plan be held until the administration completes its efforts.
While a CEDS committee report for July 1, 1998, to June 30 of this year set the territory’s unemployment rate at 6.7 percent for the first quarter of 1999’s calendar year, Sen. David Jones, chair of the Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, said it is 8 percent, if not higher.

Motorists resigned to beating tires, suspensions and nerves while slowly picking their way along St. Croix’s pothole-strewn Southshore Road will be glad to know that $4.6 million in smooth sailing is ahead.
According to Department of Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson, the infamously cratered road will see major reconstruction beginning in September — thanks to federal funding and the imminent opening of the Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino.
Along with Southshore Road, Thompson said Route 707 at Constitution Hill and Route 73 from Mon Bijou to Scenic Road West will also be fixed. The $4.6 million to resurface, reconstruct, rehabilitate and renovate some of St. Croix’s worst roads is 100 percent federally funded, he said.
"We’re focusing first on Southshore Road with the opening of the casino and hotel," Thompson said. "We want to basically stimulate the economy not only with this capital project, but to have synergy with other projects on the island.
"One of those is the casino and hotel," he said.
David Riel, DPW’s assistant program manager in the Office of Highway Engineering, said that some 16 miles of road will see improvement. He said that typical road projects in the territory usually entail a half-mile to two miles worth of work.
"When you consider the length of roads on the island," said Thompson, "this is a fairly considerable size we’re trying to accomplish."
Work will begin at the intersection of Queen Mary Highway and Route 62 near the Cool Out Bar going north to south to where the road makes a hard left-hand turn and Southshore Road begins. From there, sections of road all the way to the Southshore Cafe in Sally’s Fancy will be reconstructed.
"In some areas we will take out completely the old road and properly construct new roads," Thompson said.
Route 60, from the Great Pond area to Cramer Park, will be spot-paved where needed.
Much of the road problems on St. Croix can be attributed to heavy vehicles traveling on paved-over Danish estate roads used to cart goods to the island’s two towns, Thompson said.
"A lot of times, these roads weren’t engineered or designed properly," he said. "They were never designed as roads as such."
Determining when the project will be finished depends on when the lowest bid contractor, V.I. Paving, submits final contractual paperwork, which Thompson said would probably be sometime next week. The second lowest bid was $5.8 million.
In a press conference Friday, Gov. Charles Turnbull said work could be completed by the end of December. The Divi Carina Bay Resort is set to open Oct. 15, while the casino is scheduled to open sometime in December.

With efforts already underway to put together an economic strategy for the territory, a bill that would have the Legislature do the same was held in a Senate committee Friday.
At the Senate’s Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, members were told that two committees appointed by the executive branch, the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Committee and the Economic Recovery Task Force, are both working on five-year financial recovery plans.
Because of those efforts, Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole requested that his proposal to have the Senate establish and implement its own financial recovery plan be held until the administration completes its efforts.
While a CEDS committee report for July 1, 1998 to June 30 of this year set the territory’s unemployment rate at 6.7 percent for the first quarter of 1999’s calendar year, Sen. David Jones, chair of the Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, said it is 8 percent, if not higher.

In only his second press conference since taking office in January, and the first where he answered questions, Gov. Charles Turnbull on Friday explained his whereabouts for the past month and a half.
While Turnbull said that a trip to Denmark — with visits to Germany and England — and travels to Texas, Missouri and New York were paid for by the V.I. government, he didn’t disclose costs.
For the last six weeks, Turnbull has been intermittently out of the territory. He defended the trips, saying they were used to promote the territory or conduct business.
His trip to New York included meetings with representatives of bond rating agencies about a $100 million bond sale to help the government deal with massive financial problems.
"We’re determined that the government function," Turnbull said. "We’re not going to let the V.I. sink . . . sometimes it will be controversial."
When asked about details on the bond issuance, Turnbull deferred questions to Rudolph Krigger Sr., his adviser on financial affairs.
Krigger, however, didn’t disclose what the government would use to secure the bonds.
"We’re looking at different revenue streams to repay the bonds to make sure the bondholder feels comfortable," Krigger said.
He added that V.I. bonds are popular because they are tax free on the federal, state and municipal levels.
On his trip to Texas where he spoke to members of his fraternity, Turnbull also met with Andrew Beal, owner of Beal Aerospace Technologies, which wants to build its world headquarters and rocket assembly plant on St. Croix. The plan, however, is opposed by environmental groups and others who don’t want to trade public land at Great Pond Bay the company needs for the project.
Opponents of Beal developing the Great Pond site want the company to move to an industrial area near the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport.
"My mission to Beal was to convince them to relocate to St. Croix, but not at Great Pond," Turnbull said.
But after two hours of talks, Turnbull said Beal was adamant that the only viable site is at the Great Pond location, even if it means legal battles with those opposing the proposal. Because of Beal’s position, Turnbull said he will support the company’s efforts.
"They are determined that it’s either Great Pond or nowhere else in the territory," Turnbull said. "We have to make a decision: Great Pond or nowhere. It’s as clear as that."
Turnbull also spoke about the territory’s precarious financial state. According to a report done by CORE International, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting company, the V.I. has a cumulative budget deficit of more than $1 billion. From 1993 to 1998 alone, the report said the government borrowed more than $500 million on top of a deficit of some $140 million.
That wasn’t lost on Turnbull on Friday. As he cautioned Virgin Islanders that in order to recover financially he would have to cut the government payroll, he made it clear that the problem wasn’t created on his watch.
He said decades of "doing the wrong things financially" led to the present situation. However, he said former Gov. Roy Schneider’s administration was the prime culprit.
"In the last four years, more damage was done than in the preceding years," Turnbull said. "That’s why we’re in the mess we’re in today."
While Schneider was often criticized for his travels abroad and questionable hiring practices, Turnbull brushed off queries about the hiring of his sister-in-law and Lt. Gov. Gerard Luz James II’s wife in the Tourism Department just before a government hiring freeze went into effect.
Turnbull said the Virgin Islands community is small and he has a large family; therefore it’s almost "impossible" not to hire relatives. He didn’t comment on the hiring of James’ wife.
"Everyone I’ve hired is qualified. And I’ll stand on that," he said.

After a press conference Friday afternoon where Gov. Charles Turnbull kept details of a proposed $100 million bond issuance to a minimum, a Government House release later in the evening explained the rationale for taking on more debt.
The proposed bond financing will go toward repaying a $35 million short-term loan given to the government earlier this year by Banco Popular.
The balance of the bond proceeds will provide working capital that will be melded with "various cost-reduction and revenue-enhancement initiatives" aimed at producing a balanced budget, the Government House release stated.
At his press conference, Turnbull didn’t give a specific date of when he would submit his recommendations for fiscal year 2000, but did say "we will send a balanced budget."
On Aug. 4, after the legislative post auditor found that Turnbull’s budget contained some $200 million in unsubstantiated revenue projections, the governor’s financial team was granted an extension to revise the budget. The Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Lorraine Berry, rescheduled the start of hearings for Aug. 24.
The revised FY 2000 budget was to have been delivered Tuesday to the Legislature, allowing senators and post-audit officials a week to review it before twice-delayed hearings before the Finance Committee begin next week.
Berry has said there is no way the budget will be in place by Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year. With the three-week delay, she said, final approval by the full Senate should come in late October. Then the budget bill goes to the governor.
Meanwhile, Turnbull and Rudolph Krigger Sr., the governor’s assistant for fiscal policy and economic affairs, were in New York last week meeting with financial analysts from PaineWebber Inc. about the bond issue. The next step will be to submit authorizing legislation for the bond deal to the Senate for approval.
If the proposal is approved, the bonds will be marketed and then sold to investors. Government House said the whole process has approximately two months until it is completed.
"The bonds cannot and will not be presented to potential investors until such time as we have legislative approval of the financing," Turnbull said. "It is up to me and my financing team to convince the Legislature, and the general public, that this financing is not only necessary, but the required first step in getting some breathing room as other initiatives are implemented."
The Government House "fact sheet" gave the following information:
— Government's financial team — Finance commissioner, director of Management and Budget, director of finance and administration for the Public Finance Authority, assistant to the governor for fiscal policy and financial affairs.
— Financial adviser to the government — First Union Capital Markets.
— Legal counsel to the government — Harris, Beach and Wilcox.
— Lead Bond underwriter — PaineWebber Inc.
Others on the underwrting team, there "to ensure the widest distribution in the marketing of the bonds," are Morgan Stanley in association with Banco Popular and Roosevelt & Cross.

In only his second press conference since taking office in January, and the first where he answered questions, Gov. Charles Turnbull on Friday explained his whereabouts for the past month and a half.
While Turnbull said that a trip to Denmark — with visits to Germany and England — and travels to Texas, Missouri and New York were paid for by the V.I. government, he didn’t disclose costs.
For the last six weeks, Turnbull has been intermittently out of the territory. But during those trips, he said he was either promoting the territory or conducting business.
His trip to New York included meetings with representatives of bond rating agencies about a $100 million bond sale to help the government deal with massive financial problems.
"We’re determined that the government function," Turnbull said. "We’re not going to let the V.I. sink . . . sometimes it will be controversial."
When asked about details about the bond issuance, Turnbull deferred questions to Rudy Krigger, the governor’s advisor on financial affairs.
Krigger, however, didn’t disclose what the government would use to secure them.
"We’re looking at different revenue streams to repay the bonds to make sure the bond holder feels comfortable," Krigger said.
He added that V.I. bonds are popular because they are tax free on the federal, state and municipal levels.
On his trip to Texas where he spoke to members of his fraternity, Turnbull also met with Andrew Beal, owner of Beal Aerospace Technologies, which wants to build its world headquarters and rocket assembly plant on St. Croix. The plan, however, is opposed by environmental groups and others who don’t want to trade public land at Great Pond Bay the company needs for the project.
Opponents of Beal developing the Great Pond site want the company to move to an industrial area near the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport.
"My mission to Beal was to convince them to relocate to St. Croix, but not at Great Pond," Turnbull said.
But after two hours of talks, Turnbull said Beal was adamant that the only viable site is at the Great Pond location, even if it means legal battles with those opposing the proposal. Because of Beal’s position, Turnbull said he will support the company’s efforts.
"They are determined that it’s either Great Pond or nowhere else in the territory," Turnbull said. "We have to make a decision: Great Pond or nowhere. It’s as clear as that."
Turnbull also spoke about the territory’s precarious financial state. According to a report done by CORE International, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting company, the V.I. has a cumulative budget deficit of more than $1 billion. Since 1993 to 1998 alone, the report said the government borrowed more than $500 million, on top of deficit of some $140 million.
And that wasn’t lost on Turnbull on Friday. As he cautioned Virgin Islanders that in order to recover financially he would have to cut the government payroll, he made it clear that the problem wasn’t created on his watch.
He said decades of "doing the wrong things financially" lead to the present situation. However, he said former Gov. Roy Schneider’s administration was the prime culprit.
"In the last four years, more damage was done than in the preceding years," Turnbull said. "That’s why we’re in the mess we’re in today."
While Schneider was often criticized for his travels abroad and questionable hiring practices, Turnbull brushed off queries about the hiring of his sister-in law and Lt. Gov. Gerard Luz James II’s wife in the Department of Tourism just before a government hiring freeze.
Turnbull said that Virgin Islands community is small and he has a large family, therefore it’s almost "impossible" not to hire relatives. He didn’t comment on the hiring of James’ wife.
"Everyone I’ve hired is qualified. And I’ll stand on that," he said.

After a press conference on Friday afternoon where Gov. Charles Turnbull kept details of a proposed $100 million bond issuance to a minimum, a Government House release later in the evening explained the need to take on more debt.
The proposed bond financing will go toward repaying a $35 million short-term loan given to the government earlier this year by Banco Popular.
The balance of the bond proceeds will provide working capital that will be melded with "various cost-reduction and revenue-enhancement initiatives" that will go toward producing a balanced budget, the Government House release stated.
At his press conference, Turnbull didn’t give a specific date of when he would submit his recommendations for fiscal year 2000, but did say "we will send a balanced budget."
On Aug. 4, after the legislative post auditor found that Turnbull’s budget contained some $200 million in unsubstantiated revenue projections, the governor’s financial team was granted an extension to revise the budget. The Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Lorraine Berry, rescheduled the start of hearings for Aug. 24.
The revised FY 2000 budget was to have been delivered Tuesday to the Legislature, allowing senators and post-audit officials a week to review it before twice-delayed hearings before the Finance Committee begin next week.
Berry has said there is no way the budget will be in place by Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year. With the three-week delay, she said, final approval by the full Senate should come in late October. Then the budget bill goes to the governor.
Meanwhile, Turnbull and Rudy Krigger, the governor’s assistant for fiscal policy and economic affairs, were in New York last week meeting with financial analysts from Paine Weber Inc. about the bond issue. The next step will be to submit authorizing legislation for the bond deal to the Senate for approval.
If the proposal is approved, the bonds will be marketed and then sold to investors. Government House said the whole process has approximately two months until it is completed.
"The bonds cannot and will not be presented to potential investors until such time as we have legislative approval of the financing," Turnbull said. "It is up to me and my financing team to convince the Legislature, and the general public, that this financing is not only necessary, but the required first step in getting some breathing room as other initiatives are implemented."