On Tuesday, half of the auditorium at the Charlotte Amalie High School was filled with students, education administrators, teachers, and community members interested to learn more about the creation of the Virgin Islands Technical College, with two campuses being fabricated, one on St. Thomas and one on St. Croix.
The VI Technical College is currently in development. Through Bill BR25-0642, the school will offer hands-on skill courses for students. The town hall Tuesday was held to address community questions, concerns, and ideas about technical education and workforce readiness, and to share information about the programs and opportunities at the Virgin Islands Technical College.
Sana Joseph-Smith, policy adviser to Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. for education and workforce development, Sen. Avery Lewis, Lavern Richardson, project director, and V.I. Education Department Commissioner Dionne Wells-Hendrington sat on the town hall panel to address the audience. The Education Department, the University of the Virgin Islands, the Raphael O. Wheatley Skills Center, and the St. Croix Career and Technical Education Center are also collaborating to ensure the success of the school.
According to Joseph-Smith, the institution will be for secondary (high school) and postsecondary (adult) students. She also shared with the audience that the funding will be provided from a congressional grant through the delegate to the Congress’s office to establish the school.
“Why should we have to go someplace else when we have the skills and the ability to do that right here? Why do we have to spend so much money when they can do that right here?” asked Joseph-Smith to the audience. She added that the school will “give our students and our community the opportunity to skill-up.”
“For far too long our young people have faced a difficult choice, whether to leave the Virgin Islands in pursuit of opportunity, or to stay and struggle with limited options,” Lewis said.
The VI Technical College will be housed at the Raphael O. Wheatley Skills Center campus on St. Thomas and the St. Croix Career and Technical Education Center on St. Croix. Courses such as welding, electrical, cosmetology, hospitality, millwright, child care, business, computer engineering, culinary arts, and phlebotomy will be offered, similar to those already available at both technical school campuses. The licensed practical nurse and elementary education courses, however, will offer associate degrees as opposed to certificates.
“What’s missing, Dr. Francis will always tell me ‘a lot’, is the resources,” Smith said.
Currently, the pro forma for the legislation to establish the schools has been created. Once the legislation passes, the school will undergo an accreditation process with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Lewis said that the bill is not complete or final, but needs to be strengthened and added that the entire process to establish the college will take between 10 and 12 months.
Before opening the floor to questions from the in-person audience and those viewing online, Richardson, project coordinator, addressed frequently asked questions.
Will the instructors continue to be members of the American Federation of Teachers, are there going to be salary changes, will instructors have 10 or 12 month schedules, are the programs going to change? These questions were addressed.
Teachers “will be able to form their own union,” replied Joseph-Smith. “We’ve met with the unions and they’ve decided that there’s another branch they can use for instructors at a technical college.”
She added that at this time, there will be no changes in salaries and schedules will remain at 10 months.
Working closely with the panel, Monique Faulkner, state director of Career, Technical and Adult Education, responded that the CTE programs will be revisited to enhance the offerings, such as allowing associate degree programs. She added that a free electric vehicle certification program will also be offered.
Joseph-Smith noted that although Faulkner said the program is free, it will only be free to those who obtain scholarships.
The audience had many questions concerning the school’s operations, the impact of courses now offering associate’s degrees instead of certificates, funding, and opportunities for continuing education.
Joseph-Smith informed the audience that there will be a chancellor heading the college, and according to Lewis, a 14-member board will be established, comprising 11 voting and three nonvoting members, who will manage the school. According to the pro forma, the nonvoting members must be appointed by the governor and “actively teaching in the career technical educational field.”
Regarding funding, because the school will operate under the education department, “VIDE will be its fiduciary, its financial backer,” said Joseph-Smith. “We are not using any new local funds. We are using our resources that we currently have at Wheatley and CTECH,” she said, and shared that money will come from congressional funding and another unconfirmed source.
Additionally, the panel discussed the job market and encouraged future students to seek careers that are currently in demand, rather than targeting oversaturated fields. Faulkner even spoke about the college’s intention to integrate programs into “employment” fields as opposed to “entrepreneurial” fields, such as aesthetician courses becoming medical aesthetician courses and massage therapy becoming medical massage therapy courses, to get funding for students in these programs.
Overall, though there were many questions raised by the audience, there appeared to be a hopeful outlook from community members.
A town hall is scheduled to take place on St. Croix this Friday, at 6 p.m. at the Educational Complex. For more information about the college, please contact Smith at sana.smith@geo.vi.gov or Lewis at avery.lewis@legvi.org.
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