U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS— Governor Albert Bryan Jr. Issued the following statement Thursday following a second day of school closures as a result of teacher walkouts in St. Croix:
“I am aware of the issues in some of our schools and the Department of Education’s efforts to address them as we move closer to constructing new state-of-the-art facilities.
“While many of us, including some of our teachers and the parents of our students, have attended these same facilities without air conditioning, what has changed since then is the climate.
“Like other jurisdictions nationwide, we are grappling with climate change and its impacts. That includes the extreme heat and record temperatures we have experienced over the past few months. Many other school districts are challenged in addressing this issue, as well as in aging schoolhouses that were not built with air conditioning.
“It is frustrating to work in less-than-ideal conditions. We will continue to do our utmost best to provide our teachers, faculty, and staff with safe and comfortable work environments. However, as we address these issues, we need to do so with consideration to the most important matter at hand, which is the instruction of our students who are losing critical instruction days due to these job actions. Let us all work together to ensure they receive the education they need to succeed in this rapidly changing world.”