Teachers Walk Off Job Over Repeated Threats, DOE Says

Teachers at Lockhart School on St. Thomas walked off the job Wednesday morning because of ongoing threats of violence by students and parents, Virgin Islands Department of Education officials said.

The job action by 4th-8th grade teachers, which Education officials said had not been sanctioned by the teachers’ union, sent parents and bus drivers scrambling. The school sent out an “urgent dismissal notice” a little after 11:45 Wednesday morning, asking parents to pick up their children as soon as possible. Bus drivers came for other children hours earlier than scheduled.

Kindergarten through third-grade classes were not affected.

While not giving specific examples of the threats or their frequency and severity, Commissioner Dionne Wells-Hedrington said it was a reoccurring issue.