Completed ADA-compliant ramp/sidewalk at the Addelita Cancryn Intermediate and Junior High School in St. Thomas By. THE VIRGIN ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
The Department of Education said Thursday that as part of the year-round maintenance of its schools, it has completed work on important projects in recent months, with several more projects critical to the quality of the school environment expected to be completed by June.
According to D.O.E. Territorial Project Engineer Alan Fleming, the department’s Operations Division “is continuing to work to improve the conditions at our schools, using funding from the Public Finance Authority, Office of Insular Affairs and other local funding made available to us.”
ST. THOMAS-ST. JOHN DISTRICT
According to D.O.E., last October, an ADA-compliant ramp/sidewalk was installed at the Addelita Cancryn Intermediate and Junior High School, which is temporarily being housed on the Lockhart Elementary School campus, in order to accommodate wheelchair-bound students. The ramp/sidewalk connect the area of the Lockhart campus used by Cancryn to the modular units on the school grounds.
Fleming said the project was completed within a two-week period by local contractor Do Right Construction and was paid for with $28,498 in funding from the Public Finance Authority.
Joseph Gomez Elementary School will soon have a refurbished basketball court fit for students to enjoy outdoor activities. A playground covering will be installed over the outdoor court and new court surface installed over the concrete base currently in place. Fleming said the job is out to bid and is expected to be completed before the close of the school year.
ST. CROIX DISTRICT
The department said two of the district’s four newly configured K-8 schools, including Pearl B. Larsen and Arthur A. Richards, along with John H. Woodson Junior High School, will soon have additional restroom facilities on their campuses.
Fleming said modular bathrooms, consisting of male and female multi-stall units, were needed on the Pearl B. Larsen and Arthur A. Richards campuses with the addition of seventh and eighth grade students at the schools this year. At Woodson Jr. High, the modular bathrooms will satisfy the need for bathroom and changing-room facilities at the Sprung gymnasium. The restrooms on the Pearl B. Larsen and Arthur Richards campuses will be installed near the schools’ gymnasiums, as well. Solicitation for these projects are in progress.
Similar to Gomez Elementary on St. Thomas, Alfredo Andrews Elementary School on St. Croix will soon see both of its outdoor basketball courts resurfaced. The courts currently are surfaced in asphalt, making them unsafe for students to play on. The new courts will be resurfaced with an approved new-court surface suitable for student use. Fleming said the job is currently out to bid and is expected to be completed before the close of the school year.
“The Department of Education will continue to update the community on the status of the maintenance of our schools, as we look to the future of having new schools constructed in the territory,” Fleming concluded.
