A Future in Education or a Preservation Betrayal? The Great Land Swap Debate in St. John Takes Center Stage at Hearing

e 35th Legislature’s Committee of the Whole hearing on Tuesday afternoon was filled with passionate discussion in support of – and against – the only item on the agenda: legislation that would facilitate the exchange of Whistling Cay for a parcel of land belonging to the National Park Service (NPS) in Catherineberg, Hammers Farm St. John. The land thus acquired from the NPS would be used to build a new all-grades public school on St. John.

Testimony began with Commissioner Dionne Wells-Hedrington, head of the Department of Education. She spoke forcefully in favor of the land swap, noting that the children of St. John had been grappling with a lack of equity and equality in education for decades.

Wells-Hedrington argued that this was the first time in her long history as an educator that there has been a convergence of factors such that a public K-12 school on St. John was an imminent possibility. “I was a student, a parent, an educator, and assistant principal, a principal, an insular superintendent, a chief operations officer and now the commissioner,” she noted, establishing her bona fides. “The funding is in place. The property is available. The need is overwhelming. And the opportunity to create this historic moment is upon us,” she declared.

She went on to describe the proposed school, noting that it would also serve as a hurricane shelter when necessary, expanding shelter capacity on St. John from 15 to over 100 people. A gymnasium and auditorium would play host to indoor sporting activities and large assemblies respectively, opening new possibilities for St. John community life. The money to build the new school would come from a Federal Emergency Management Agency award which was approved to reconstruct the Julius E. Sprauve school, the K-8 facility damaged beyond repair in the 2017 hurricanes.

She explained the seeming urgency to complete the land swap process and begin construction as soon as possible by disclosing the grant was for a fixed sum. “Once they give us an amount, that’s it. So as we experience delays and inflation escalates, we will not get a single dime extra,” the DoE commissioner noted.