Rules and Judiciary Committee Approves Bill Re-Establishing Virtual Information System in Schools

The Senate Committee on Rules and Judiciary last week approved legislation the would reinvigorate the Virgin Islands Virtual Information System (VIVIS), an initiative first established under the John deJongh administration in 2013. The measure re-establishes the VIVIS within the V.I. Department of Education (D.O.E.), providing for new protocols regarding personal information, approved data uses, and maintaining the confidentiality and distribution of data. The VIVIS was put in place back in 2013 at a cost of more than $2.6 million, but according to school officials, has large gaps in its data.  “We need a depository for the data. We cannot manage what we can’t measure. Data collected will assist in making informed decisions where it is applicable,” said Sen. Janelle Sarauw, chair of the Rules Committee and one of the sponsors of the bill. The other sponsor is Sen. Donna Frett Gregory and Sen. Stedman Hodge, Jr. is a co-sponsor. Reuben Molloy, deputy commissioner of the Department of...