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Department defends phone systems, textbooks rollout and says Vivis platform is deployed but underused
Summary
Officials told senators the Mitel phone system covers all schools, districts have textbooks including a recent VI-centric civics roll-out, and the Vivis data platform is available though utilization needs improvement; the department said BIT provides consulting but the department uses its own infrastructure.
Department officials answered questions about technology contracts, textbook availability and data platforms during the FY26 budget hearing.
On telecommunications, officials confirmed a contract with Dwyer for telephone services and a Mitel phone-system contract of about $85,760 covering all schools in Saint Croix; the department said the system links schools and administrative offices so callers can reach extensions across campuses. “All of our schools, senator,” a department representative told the committee when asked how many sites the Mitel system covers.
Senators asked why the department is not on the central BIT (Bureau of Information Technology) infrastructure. The department said it maintains its own infrastructure but uses BIT for consultation when issues arise.
Regarding curriculum and textbooks, Deputy Commissioner Renee Charleswell said the territory’s VI-centric civics textbooks have been distributed and schools “have what they need to roll out for the upcoming school year.” Other district superintendents said most content-area textbook adoptions were completed under ARPA funding, with social studies cited as an area needing some updates.
On data systems, the commissioner said the Vivis platform is up and running but that utilization within schools is not yet where the department wants it. “We have been able to utilize our platform to give us tremendous amount of data. So it's a matter of educating our teachers,” she told the committee.
No votes were taken; senators asked for additional documentation on contracts, licensure and any outstanding procurement questions.
