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Senate committee hears mixed advice on creating a Bureau of School Security; bill held in committee
Summary
A June 17 hearing on legislation to create a Bureau of School Security produced divided testimony: Department of Education supported the concept but flagged funding and staffing concerns; POST and the Police Department urged strengthening current partnerships instead of creating a new bureau. The committee voted to hold the bill for further work.
Senators heard competing views on a bill (36-0049) that would create a Bureau of School Security inside the Department of Education during a June 17 Committee on Education and Workforce Development hearing.
Sponsor Novelle E. Francis Jr. opened the hearing, saying the measure is intended to standardize training for school monitors and school resource officers and to build a more coordinated approach to student safety. "Training mandates... can and should be part of a comprehensive wraparound approach," Francis said.
Department of Education: conceptual support, but funding concerns Victor Somme III, the Department of Education—s assistant commissioner, said the department conceptually supports a school-safety bureau but warned the bill does not identify funding for new positions and programs. He outlined the department—s current setup: 46 monitors in St. Thomas/St. John and 63 in St. Croix, and about 15 SROs currently assigned by the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD). Somme recommended clearer statutory language on allowable costs and urged that funding and operational details be resolved before any transfer of functions.
POST and VIPD: prefer strengthening partnerships over a new bureau Gleeson E. McIntosh Jr., executive director of the Virgin Islands Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), testified that while safety is essential he opposed creating a separate school police bureau inside education. He warned of blurred roles between education and law enforcement and pointed to national research that increased policing in schools can increase student arrests without clear reductions in violence. Assistant Commissioner Sean Santos of the VIPD made similar points and recommended a model that professionalizes and trains current school monitors and explores auxiliary/post-certified programs rather than establishing a full new law-enforcement bureau inside DOE.
Board of Education and school monitors Vice Chair Emmanuel Perez Casias and member Winona Hendricks of the Virgin Islands Board of Education urged prevention-focused solutions: restorative practices, counseling and targeted mental-health supports. School manager Kevin Dowdy (Saint Croix) and other monitors testified in support of enhanced training and hazardous-duty pay; they described multiple incidents over years that they say demonstrate risks monitors face on campus.
Committee action: bill held in committee After discussion, Senator Kurt Vialet—s bill was the subject of a motion and roll-call vote. The committee voted to hold the measure in committee for further work. Roll call from the record: DeGraaf (yes), Gittens (yes), James (yes), Johnson (yes), Joseph (yes), Lewis (yes), Vialet/Viola (yes). Outcome: held in committee (7 yeas, 0 nays).
