ST. THOMAS - The V.I. Board of Education approved its annual U.S. Virgin Islands Management Accountability Report for the 2008-2009 school year at a special meeting Tuesday.

The report is required by law and details the state of public school facilities, curriculum and other problems plaguing the local education system. It is based on the board's yearly site visits and sit-downs with administrators at each of the territory's 34 public schools.

A series of recommendations for addressing the identified problems are also included in the annual report.

Overall, the board found improvement was made in the management of the school system not only in the facilities and maintenance but also in academic growth and the social environmental of the schools.

"We acknowledge that it is an overwhelming responsibility to ensure that our children receive a first-class, 21st century education that will prepare them for the rigors of a global economy with diverse career options," the report states. "While we still have many challenges ahead, the board is encouraged by the steady progress witnessed during our visits to the schools for the most part."

Trends of increased violence and gang activity on school campuses, especially at the middle and junior high schools, deeply concerned the board. They recommended that school administrators, faculty and staff be trained to identify and address gang-related behavior in schools.

Other safety concerns were laid out in the report, specifically the need for perimeter fencing around school campuses, upgraded camera surveillance systems and sidewalks for students who walk to school. The board recommended that the department update each school's emergency plan as well.

A lack of regular maintenance on most school campuses has led to rapid deterioration of even some of the newest schools in the territory, the board reported. At some schools, Ivanna Eudora Kean High School in particular, poor facilities, leaking classrooms and a stalled track and field project could threaten accreditation status.

"Board members - once again - urge the Department of Education to develop a comprehensive maintenance plan to address the physical plant infrastructure," the report states.

The lack of such a plan has led to deferred and often inadequate responses to the day-to-day maintenance needs of many schools, the report said.

In the report, the board offered to help the department create such a plan and help identify funding required for major capital projects.

The report also suggested that the department reinstitute its long-defunct Engineering Division.

"The board has stated time and again that the biggest department in this government with more than 35 multi-building facilities must have a division with the appropriate architectural, engineering and project management capacity dedicated to guiding the overall maintenance of the department's facilities," the report said.

Ongoing plans to relocate some of the territory's schools must be expedited to provide better learning environments for students, the report said.

The report notes that in the last three years, no junior high or middle school in the territory has met the federal goal of annual yearly progress - or AYP - as outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act.

The board recommends that someone within the Education Department be designated to target junior high and middle schools to review school administrators' goals, identify school strengths and weaknesses and implement alternative strategies like holding separate reading and math classes for male and female students.

Attendance of both students and teachers over the course of the entire school year also affects the AYP rating negatively, and the report encourages the department to focus its attention on that matter.

In the area of curriculum, the report found that there are too many differences between the territory's schools, and a territorywide assessment must be done by Education.

The report was passed unanimously Tuesday by board members Cheryl Francis, Winona Hendricks, Arah Lockhart, Keith Richards, Oswin Sewer Sr., Debra Smith-Watlington and Terrence T. Joseph. Board members Janis Esannason and Judy Gomez were absent.

After a few changes approved in Tuesday's meeting are made to the document, a final copy of the report will be made available Thursday.

In other business, the board agreed to participate in a radio show with Abdul Ali on July 25 and authorized Executive Director Carol Henneman to bring education speaker Lorraine Monroe to the Virgin Islands for the start of the next school year.

In executive session, the board authorized Henneman to take action on a legal matter. Hendricks said the legal issue was a personnel matter that was heard before the Public Employees Relation Board and a cash settlement was arbitrated. The settlement cannot be disclosed because of a confidentiality agreement between the parties, Hendricks said.

- Contact reporter Aldeth Lewin at 774-8772 ext. 311 or e-mail alewin@dailynews.vi.