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17 V.I.C. § 41

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VIRGIN ISLANDS CODE ANNOTATED

Copyright © 2009 by THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR for THE GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

*** STATUTES CURRENT THROUGH ACT 7059 OF THE 2008 REGULAR SESSION ***
*** ANNOTATIONS CURRENT THROUGH FEBRUARY 11, 2009 ***

TITLE SEVENTEEN Education

Chapter 5. Public Schools

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17 V.I.C. § 41 (2009)

§ 41. Courses of study

(a) The Virgin Islands Board of Education, upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Education, shall pre-
scribe the courses of study for all public schools which shall not be less than the minimum standards set by the
acknowledged accrediting groups in the United States: provided, that the basic course of study for high schools shall be
academic.
(b) English shall be the basic language of instruction in all public schools and it shall be the policy of the Virgin Is-
lands Board of Education to ensure the mastery of English by all pupils; provided that bilingual instruction may be of-
fered in those situations when such instruction is educationally advantageous to the pupils.
(c) All public schools in the Virgin Islands shall instruct all students in:
(1) The history of the Virgin Islands and basic Caribbean history and drug prevention and education, such courses
to be part of the curriculum in elementary and secondary schools;
(2) Family life, sex education, and substance abuse, such subjects to be part of the health curriculum for grades K
through 12, additionally an AIDS prevention education program shall be part of the health curriculum for grades kin-
dergarten through 12;
(3) Real estate appraisal for grades 10-12; and
(4) Financial education programs for students in grades Kindergarten through 12 based on the concept of achiev-
ing financial literacy through the teaching of personal financial management skills and the basic principles involved
with earning, spending, saving and investing.
(5) Hotel and Tourism Training Courses, such courses to be part of the curriculum starting in the 1994 school
year in junior high school and continuing through the twelfth grade.

HISTORY: --Amended Apr. 19, 1972, No. 3208, § 1, Sess. L. 1972, p. 67; July 11, 1983, No. 4844, Sess. L. 1983, p.
111; May 22, 1990, No. 5552, § 1, Sess. L. 1990, p. 177; Sept. 24, 1990, No. 5623, § 3, Sess. L. 1990, p. 334; Nov. 18,
1991, No. 5756, § 3, Sess. L. 1991, p. 258; Mar. 23, 1992, No. 5781, § 1, Sess. L. 1992, p. 44; Jan. 25, 1994, No. 5953,
§ 2, Sess. L. 1994, p. 4; Mar. 20, 1996, No. 6097, § 7, Sess. L. 1996, p. 23; Aug. 2, 2002, No. 6534, § 15, Sess. L. 2002,
p. 437.

NOTES:

HISTORY
Source.
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17 V.I.C. § 41

Based on Act Leg. Assem. app. Jan. 25, 1940 (Bill no. 1), ch. 11, § 1. Similar provisions appeared in 1921 Codes,
Title II, ch. 35, § 1(d).
Revision notes.
Deleted "and" at the end of subsection (c)(2) and added a semicolon and "and" at the end of subsection (c)(3) pur-
suant to section 14 of Title 1 in view of the enactment of subsection (c)(4).
Amendments
--2002.
Act 6534, § 15, substituted the present language in paragraph (4) of subsection (c), for the former language which
read: "Courses pertaining to economic literacy including techniques of personal budgeting and financial planning for
grades five and six."
--1996.
Subsection (c): Added new par. (4) and redesignated former par. (4) as present par. (5).
--1994.
Subsection (c)(4): Added.
--1992.
Subsection (c)(2): Added "additionally an AIDS prevention education program shall be part of the health curricu-
lum for grades kindergarten through 12" at the end of the sentence.
--1991.
Subsection (c)(3): Added.
--1990.
Subsection (c): Amended generally by Act No. 5552.
Act No. 5623 inserted "and drug prevention and education" following "Caribbean history".
--1983.
Subsection (c): Added.
--1972.
Designated former text as subsection (a) and added subsection (b).
Effective date of amendments
--1972.
Act Apr. 19, 1972 provided: "This Act shall become effective July 1, 1972".
Statement of motives.
Act Apr. 19, 1972, No. 3208, contained the following statement of motives: "A serious educational problem exists
with reference to a language handicap of many pupils in attendance at our public schools. In some of the public schools
in the Virgin Islands a significant number of the pupils are of limited English-speaking ability because they come from
homes and environments where the dominant language is Spanish. This situation imposes upon the teachers in such
schools and classes the additional burden of providing preliminary instruction in the rudiments of the English language
for such pupils while at the same time being responsible for their regular classroom instruction. Additional efforts
should be made to supplement our present efforts in order to find adequate and constructive solutions to this often per-
plexing educational problem. No child in the Virgin Islands should be deprived of an equal educational opportunity be-
cause of his limited command of the English language. Our educational system must equip all of our youth to realize
their full potential and to participate fully in the social and economic life of the Virgin Islands;".
Study on bilingual education.
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17 V.I.C. § 41

Act Sept. 18, 1969, No. 2547, Sess. L. 1969, p. 278, provided:
"Section 1. The Department of Education is authorized to:
"(a) Conduct a comprehensive survey of the Spanish-speaking population of the Virgin Islands with a view to-
ward determining the dimensions of the problem caused by the absence of a territory-wide bilingual public education
program; and
"(b) Examine, in collaboration with the Caribbean Research Institute of the College of the Virgin Islands, the ef-
fectiveness of the Virgin Islands public education system in solving the educational problems of young persons in the
Virgin Islands with Spanish-dominant backgrounds based on their abilities, interests and needs.
"Section 2. The survey and examination provided for herein shall be completed not later than December 31, 1969.
The Department of Education shall report its findings to the Legislature not later than the first legislative day in Febru-
ary during the 1970 Regular Session.
"Section 3. The Department of Education shall submit to the Legislature, not later than February 1, 1970, appropri-
ate recommendations including, but not limited to:
"(a) A program of action designed to remedy the problems disclosed by the survey and examination relating to
the educational needs of children of limited English-speaking ability.
"(b) Target dated by which policies and programs would have been put into effect, designed to alleviate and/or
solve such problems as may have been found to exist.
"Section 4. The College of the Virgin Islands is hereby authorized and directed to (a) initiate and maintain a con-
tinuing and systematic evaluation of the implementation of such policies and programs as may have been adopted and
(b) to provide periodic reports of its evaluations to the Governor, the Legislature and the Board of Education not less
than once a year and in any year not later than December 31.
"Section 5. There is hereby appropriated to the Department of Education the sum of $20,000 from the General
Fund of the Treasury of the Virgin Islands for fiscal year July 1, 1969, through June 30, 1970, for the purposes of carry-
ing out the provisions of this Act."
Health curriculum program--Development and approval.
Act May 22, 1990, No. 5552, § 3, Sess. L. 1990, p. 178, provided:
"The Department of Education shall develop the Health Curriculum Program in consultation with the Departments
of Human Services and Health, the Virgin Islands Police Department, and such other departments as may be deemed
appropriate. The curriculum so developed by the Department of Education shall be adopted and approved by the Board
of Education in accordance with Title 17, Section 21, Virgin Islands Code."
--Implementation.
Act May 22, 1990, No. 5552, § 4, Sess. L. 1990, p. 178, provided:
"The Health Curriculum Program as described in Section 1 hereof [which amended subsec. (c) of this section], shall
be implemented in grades K through 10 beginning with the September 1991 school year and in grades 11 and 12 begin-
ning with the September 1992 school year."
Bids required for all school construction.
Act Apr. 10, 1979, No. 4270, Sess. L. 1979, p. 17, provided:
"Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, and notwithstanding the provisions of Title 31, section
239, Virgin Islands Code, no contract for the construction of any school in the Virgin Islands shall be awarded which
has not first been competitively bid pursuant to the provisions of Title 31, section 236, Virgin Islands Code."
Emergency school construction.
Act Oct. 30, 1964, No. 1255, Sess. L. 1964, p. 416, provided:
"Section 1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares:
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17 V.I.C. § 41

"(a) That the Government of the Virgin Islands has constructed numbers of new classrooms between the academ-
ic years 1959-60 and 1963-64, as well as other plant facilities, such as the Grove Place School and a five room addition
to the Christiansted Elementary School, which are in the process of being built.
"(b) These efforts notwithstanding, the following underlying problems, operating in concert have traditionally
impeded the Department of Education's school construction program:
"(1) cost of construction;
"(2) construction time; and
"(3) limited financing.
"(c) The Legislature is satisfied that public classroom needs will be met only to the extent that the aforemen-
tioned problems can be overcome, and that the school construction program on a crash basis hereinafter set forth consti-
tutes the most feasible approach to the resolution of such problems.
"(d) That the Legislature has taken into consideration the report entitled 'A Proposal for Expediting a School
Construction Program in the United States Virgin Islands' addressed to the Governor of the Virgin Islands, annexed
hereto as Appendix 'A'. [Text of the proposal referred to in this subsection is set out following text of this Act as set out
in Session Laws volume, 1964.]
"Section 2. The Governor of the Virgin Islands, on behalf of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and through
such department or departments, agency or agencies of such Government as he may designate, is hereby authorized to
undertake a program of construction of public schools in the Virgin Islands on a crash basis, in accordance with the pro-
visions of this Act. The particular objectives of this program shall be:
"(a) to provide, on a priority basis, an estimated 104 classrooms, elementary and secondary, required between
September 1964 and academic year 1968-69;
"(b) to effect such economies as are consistent with sound educational planning and the Territory's ability to fi-
nance such a construction program;
"(c) to construct needed schools in the shortest period of time possible.
"Section 3. In order to carry out and effectuate the purposes of this Act, the Governor is hereby authorized:
"(1) To implement and expedite the proposed school building program reflected in analyses and research investi-
gations completed by the Department of Education, said program to include the acquisition of necessary sites and con-
struction of an estimated 104 classrooms, elementary and secondary.
"(2) To arrange for the purchase of equipment needed to make the above-mentioned classrooms educationally
functional.
"(3) To improve, extend, better, repair and reconstruct existing or newly-acquired schools and school sites.
"(4) To negotiate and execute contracts and other instruments with architects or engineers, convenient to the ex-
ercise of the powers conferred by this Act.
"(5) To participate in any programs, present or future, of the Federal Government in fields of school building
construction and/or equipment in which the Virgin Islands Government may be eligible to participate.
"Section 4. The proceeds of the sale of any general obligation bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness authorized
by law, including notes issued in anticipation of the issuance of bonds, interim bonds, receipts, certificates of indebted-
ness, or other obligations, to finance the school construction program hereunder shall be deposited in a Special Fund in
the Treasury of the Virgin Islands, to be designated the 'Special Revolving Emergency School Construction Fund' and
maintained and administered by the Commissioner of Finance as a separate and distinct fund in the Treasury. Amounts
out of the said fund shall be available for expenditure by the Commissioner of Education, with the approval of the Gov-
ernor, exclusively for the program of school construction authorized by the Act, without the necessity of yearly appro-
priations.
"Section 5. (a) There is hereby created a special temporary Emergency School Construction Committee composed
of the Commissioner of Education, the Director of the Budget, two members of the Legislature appointed by the Presi-
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17 V.I.C. § 41

dent of the Legislature and three members of the Board of Education, who shall advise the Governor with respect to the
program outlined herein.
"(b) The Department of Education shall report to the Legislature at each session regular or special, the progress
of the Emergency School Construction program and other information pertaining thereto."
Bonds for school construction.
Issuance of bonds or other obligations for school construction, see Act Oct. 30, 1964, No. 1259, set out as a note
preceding chapter 1 of Title 29.
Appendix A, "A Proposal for Expediting a School Construction Program in the United States Virgin Islands", re-
ferred to in section 1(d) of Act Oct. 30, 1964, quoted above, is set out following the text of such Act as set out in Ses-
sion Laws volume, 1964. Such proposal contains several parts, one of which is designated "C. Appendix", containing
Appendices I, II and III. Appendix II thereof was amended by Act Mar. 17, 1965, No. 1355, § 1, Sess. L. 1965, Pt. I, p.
97.
Section 2 of said Act Mar. 17, 1965, No. 1355, Sess. L. 1965, Pt. I, p. 98, provided:
"Section 2. Wherever in Act No. 1255 [quoted above] or in appendixes thereto, the total number of classrooms re-
quired between September 1964 and the academic year 1968-69 is estimated at 104 classrooms, the language and num-
ber are hereby amended to read 'an estimated 130 rooms and/or teaching stations'."
The appendices of Act No. 1255 (quoted above), referred to in section 2 of Act Mar. 17, 1965, No. 1355, quoted
above, are, as mentioned in note above, set out following the text of said Act No. 1255, as set out in Session Laws vol-
ume, 1964. As also mentioned in note above, Appendix II was amended by section 1 of said Act Mar. 17, 1965. Appen-
dices A and B of such Act No. 1255 were amended by sections 3 and 4, respectively, of said Act Mar. 17, 1965.

HIERARCHY NOTES:
Tit. 17, Ch. 5 Note