ST. CROIX — Two students returned to Pearl B. Larsen Pre-K-8 School Thursday after the Virgin Islands Department of Education withdrew its request for the governor’s review of the Board of Education’s August 3 order in the case, Education Commissioner Dionne Wells-Hedrington said.
“We’re honoring the Board’s ruling, so the students can return back to Pearl B.,” Wells-Hedrington said. “They were originally removed as part of the redistricting efforts.”
The commissioner’s decision came Thursday, a day after the Board voted during an emergency meeting to pursue legal action against VIDE after the Department removed the siblings from Pearl B.
Although the Board ruled that the students should continue at Pearl B., they were not allowed to attend class.
“The parent sent an email stating that her children’s names were removed from their homerooms when they reported to the first day of school, even after they attended orientation,” stated Kyza Callwood, chairman of the Board of Education.
This led to an emergency meeting of the Board on Wednesday, and after meeting in executive session, the Board approved two motions. The first directed the Board’s attorney to file for a temporary and permanent injunction against VIDE regarding the student matter. The second directed Callwood to call the commissioner and advise her of the Board’s action and request the students’ return to Pearl B. Larsen.
Callwood said the Board unanimously decided an injunction was necessary because the department asked the governor to overturn the Board’s order and had the students out of school while waiting on the governor’s review. He said the Board needed to enforce its order in the interim.
The dispute traces back to March 2024, when the mother, school personnel from Juanita Gardine, and VIDE officials reached an agreement to transfer the students from Juanita Gardine to Pearl B. The students remained enrolled at Pearl B. for two school years, during which, according to academic records cited in the order, both students’ grades improved compared with their performance at Juanita Gardine. The students expressed a preference to remain at Pearl B Larsen. Since transferring to Pearl B. in 2024, the Board indicated that the students have established relationships with teachers and classmates and have continued their education there, thriving academically, socially, and emotionally.
On April 20, VIDE issued written notices confirming both students would be enrolled at Pearl B. Larsen for the 2026/2027 school year under the department’s redistricting plan. The mother testified she then purchased school uniforms and prepared for the students to attend Pearl B.
On June 29, she stated she received a voicemail and revised letters reassigning the students to Juanita Gardine.
The Board found that VIDE’s evidence did not establish that the students’ attendance, disciplinary history, or academic performance formed the basis for the June 29 reversal and concluded the department had not shown sufficient basis for reversing the students’ previously confirmed placement.
The Board reinstated the students’ assignment to Pearl B. Larsen for the 2026/2027 school year and directed VIDE to enroll them there and to provide the mother written confirmation within five business days.
The order states it constitutes the Board’s final decision in the matter, subject only to review by the governor as provided in the Virgin Islands Code, Title 17, Section 23(c), which states that “all decisions rendered by the Board of Education in appeal cases or on complaints shall be final, unless reviewed by the governor.”
However, the Department objected to the Board’s ruling.
“In an August 6 letter to Governor Albert Bryan Jr., the Department of Education asked the governor to review and revoke the Board’s August 3 order, arguing the Board exceeded its authority and improperly intervened in the management of student transfers,” Callwood said. “However, the department is mistaken, the Board has authority to hear student-related complaints once a parent files a notarized letter and it acted within its jurisdiction in reaching its decision.”
With VIDE’s withdrawal of its request for review, the Board’s August 3 order reinstating the students at Pearl B. Larsen remains in effect.
“The Board’s actions was not an attempt to invalidate or to create a precedent for an exception to the department’s redistricting plan,” said Callwood. “Rather, the Board made a decision based on the unique facts that resulted from the hearing.”
