What time do classes begin at Ivanna Eudora Kean HS?

Governor deJongh was quoted as saying, ""It is very upsetting when we hear stories of young school-aged children having to be on the Cruz Bay dock in the pre-dawn hours of each weekday to catch a ferry, ply the waters of Pillsbury Sound, and once on St. Thomas, walk about half a mile to the campus of Ivanna Eudora Kean High School for classes.”

Recognizing that students living in Coral Bay are the most affected by having to attend high school in St. Thomas, I'm still a bit puzzled by the priority given to the need for a public high school in St. John. Is it perhaps that the funding for a new school will come from a different bucket than that which goes to teacher salaries, school maintenance, and school supplies?

Walk a half-mile from the ferry dock to the school? Are you kidding me? This is a hardship? Do classes begin before 8:00 a.m. - necessitating boarding the 6:00 a.m. ferry? If so, would it not be more economically prudent for the V.I. government to subsidize the running of a 6:30 a.m. ferry?

I hate to say it for no other reason that it makes me sound old school - pun intended - but I walked to and from Sts. Peter & Paul each day from the old Michelle Motel in Contant for 7 years. I estimate that to be between 3 1/2 to 4 miles round trip. If my memory serves me, home room bell sounded at 7:40 a.m. Child abuse? Hardly.

I don't think it would be very hard to find students all over the world who endure far greater hardships to attend classes. Given the current state of the V.I. schools, I just don't see a new school on St. John as being fiscally responsible.