We, the friends of Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, would like to thank Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls and Education Department Deputy Superintendent Joseph Sibilly for meeting with the administration, alumni, PTA members and our local community at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School on Oct. 28. The focus of the meeting was on the completion of the track and field and the much-needed repairs to the gymnasium, as well as other projects at the school that are long overdue. 

As it stands, the completion of the track and field will currently cost $5 million, but as far as we were told only $2.5 million is secured for this endeavor. The work on just the exterior of the gym will take up to one year to complete, according to Smalls.

This will force the school to shut down activities in the gym. This includes the commencement exercises in June, which will have to be relocated to another venue away from the area in which students, their families and friends reside. This is extremely disappointing. Our public servants in the USVI government have resumed the planning of these and other items but have not strategically planned for the magnitude of funding and the inconvenience to the community and students.

We are appealing to our local leadership to secure enough funding, planning, contractors and workers to complete key projects - not just at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, but at all of our local public schools. 

Enough is enough. Some members of our community want to wait and see what happens in regard to the completion of the work at Kean, since there was an official meeting and the pending items were discussed and subsequently a segment of it was aired on Newsline 340 on public television.

Tell the class of 1973 and all other classes that have graduated from the school, and even have children that are currently students, to "wait and see."

Wait and see? We think not. These projects have the potential to run out of funding before they are even partially completed. This school was established in 1971, but it is still presently under construction. How can this be? The school was originally built to accommodate the need at that time, but not enough room was left for a rapidly growing, thriving East End community.

One example of this is that in the past, many of us who are alumni had to endure "double sessions" - morning and afternoon sessions at the school - because of overcrowding. We did not obtain the overall education that we aspired to obtain because many of the classes that we wanted to take overlapped. We did complete the basic required classes to graduate, but many of us did not have chemistry, physics and other classes that are vitally important in our education and career opportunities.

Over the years, many students have transferred to Charlotte Amalie High School with their parents' support, for fear that they would not gain the education and respect that they rightfully deserve from our local government. Even today, many parents still feel the need to have their children commute to Charlotte Amalie for this reason.

And how can we neglect to mention the multitudes of Kean students that have dropped out of the school because their truancy was, and is, an expression of the lack of concern and disrespect that their impressionable minds translate to them when they see the government's lack of decisiveness and persistence on their behalf. 

We know this to be true because these children are our children, relatives, neighbors and employees of our community. The vicious circle needs to be stopped. The government may be indirectly breeding a frustrated group of criminals and lawless persons who may have been promising, outstanding leaders of our community and nation. Both public high schools should be aptly equipped with the facilities needed for all children to excel: whether they reside in the East or West areas of the island.

The administration, faculty and staff at Kean have done and are continuing to do an exemplary job of leading the students into a bright and promising tomorrow. We, the alumni and relatives of the school, have a few questions for the USVI government: Should the current students be inconvenienced by work on items that should have been completed before they were even born? How long does Ivanna Eudora Kean High School have to wait until the work resumes with enough money and manpower to complete it in a timely fashion? Is this the pattern that we should continue to expect from our local government in regard to the needs of our public schools?

We are requesting a printed checklist of the dates, estimated costs, contractors and all items involved for each phase of the work and repairs at the school. The U.S. Virgin Islands should not continue to gain local, national and international attention for its lack of preparation, funding and completion of necessary items for its ever-growing community. Yes, we look forward to the work resuming at Kean and being completed in an expeditious and cost-effective manner. Thank you.

- Lisa P. Williams, Kean Class of '88, and The Friends of IEKHS.