ST. THOMAS ­- While the proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget for the Education Department provides enough funds to fill vacant positions, pay packages for teachers have dropped so far below national standards that recruitment and retention have become critical issues for the department, according to testimony Acting Education Commissioner Donna Frett-Gregory provided to the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday
Frett-Gregory defended a proposed budget of $157.9 million for FY 2014, of which $91 million would be allocated to funding 83 exempt positions and 2,319 classified positions.
The budget 2009 All Star Boston Red Sox 20 Youkilis Blue Jerseys represents a reduction of $4.8 million, or 3 percent, from the FY 2013 budget. In addition, the department will receive $43.1 million in federal funds for FY 2014.
"What keeps you up at night?" Sen. Donald Cole asked Frett-Gregory after she delivered testimony on everything from performance indicators to facilities management issues affecting the territory's schools.
"My primary concern is the ability to staff our classrooms," Frett-Gregory responded. "My other concern is to get our schools staffed up with nurses."
Currently, the department needs to fill 118 vacancies in "core and hard-to-fill areas," Frett-Gregory said.
"Total separations to date are 115 and include 57 resignations, 54 retirements and 3 terminations. Additionally, the department has received a total of 24 notifications - 12 from the St. Thomas-St. 2009 All Star Detroit Tigers 35 Verlandea Blue Jerseys John District and 12 from the St. Croix District - from employees who have indicated their intent to retire at the end of August," Frett-Gregory said.
Of particular concern, she said, are teacher vacancies in the subjects areas of language arts, special education, English as a second language and physical education.
Salaries that do not measure up to the high cost of living in the Virgin Islands are the primary reason why recruitment is difficult, particularly when it comes to recruiting certified teachers for English language learners away from mainland states, she said.
The personnel listing provided by the Education Department lists salaries ranging from $27,000 to $32,000 per year for vacant teacher positions.
"When they ask about living here, they will ask about rent, about utilities. They will even ask about what is the price of a gallon of milk in the Virgin Islands, and when we tell them, they do not call us back," Frett-Gregory said.
Education's acting director of Human Resources, Nicole Jacobs, said the same difficulties apply to hiring school nurses.
With eight schools missing nurses in the St. Thomas district, recruitment efforts often run aground as soon as the pay level - from $32,000 to $34,000 per year, according to the 2014 personnel listing - becomes clear to applicants, she said.
"They tell us they are attracted by summers off, but they could still make more money in overtime working for a hospital than what we can pay them," Jacobs said.
During her testimony, Frett-Gregory also emphasized a need for a "dedicated source of funding" for textbooks.
The textbook account has been completely exhausted, leaving books for social studies and sciences out of date, according to Frett-Gregory.
"We are unable to purchase locally developed materials on Virgin Islands history and culture as the textbook account was also used for those purchases," she said.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Sarah Mahurt testified that each "adoption" of a textbook curriculum costs about $200,000 and that at least another $1.5 million outside of the proposed budget would need to be allocated to getting the territory's textbooks up to date.
Frett-Gregory shared statistics about the student population from the 2012-2013 school year, including that the territory's school system served 15,192 students and that graduation rates at the territory's four high schools are at 65.8 percent for the St. Croix District and 68 percent for the St. Thomas-St. John District.
Improvements in standardized test score achievements are not likely to be reflected in the coming year's scores, because standards of proficiency in subject areas such as math and reading have been moved up according to the No Child Left Behind platform, she said.
Frett-Gregory also testified about the implementation of Common Core Curriculum standards and the development of a "longitudinal data system" to tailor instruction to student needs. These two ongoing projects entail additional training and professional development but will help boost student achievement in the long run, she said.
- Contact reporter Amanda Norris at 714-9104 or email anorris@dailynews.vi.