About Us

The members of the Board are elected in the two legislative districts; four (4) in St. Croix, four (4) in St. Thomas and one (1) At-large, a resident of St. John.

The work of the Board is directed by four (4) standing committees: Professional Staff Certification and Higher Education, Policies, Rules and Regulations, School Plants and Facilities, and Public Private Liaison. All standing committees meet at regular intervals. The Board also has an Executive committee, which is comprised of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Secretary.

The Board provides financial aid for Virgin Islands students and certifies teachers and other education professionals.

• Financial Aid: In accordance with 17 V.I.C. § 171, 172 and 176, the Board is responsible for receiving and administering scholarship grants and loans from the Territorial Scholarship Fund. Each January, the Board publishes a list of all scholarships available to Virgin Islands students. Learn more
• Certification: Pursuant to 3 V.I.C. § 21(a)(6), the Board prescribes rules, regulations and criteria for the certification of teachers, supervisors and other professionals. The Board also issues teacher certificates pursuant to 17 V.I.C. § 121(b). Learn more
• Education standards and policies: Under the Virgin Islands Code, the Board has oversight, management powers and enforcement authority in various areas of public education as illustrated in the table below. Learn more

The Virgin Islands Board of Education is committed to its vision and will promote the transformation of the structure of existing public education through:

1. Governance over the Public Education System;
   The VIBE on a whole, and through committees such as our Policies, Rules, and Regulations committee develop guidelines that coordinate and control certain actions within the Virgin Islands public school system. The VIBE strives to provide public notification of all existing policies as well as any adoptions of new/revised policies in a timely manner. We convene public forums to inform, engage, and solicit input from community stakeholders before, during, and after the adoption of policies and encourage the community to attend and participate in these events.
    
2. Improved student, parent, teacher relationships;
   Administrators, teachers, parents, students and all persons who work to make education a rewarding prospect to improve future and career journeys!  The VIBE facilitates and supports the role of parents in ensuring that each child receives a quality education. We continue to collaborate and coordinate with our education stakeholders, including community organizations, on partnership opportunities targeting parental involvement.
    
3. Comprehensive community engagement; 
   The VIBE is committed to continuing to identify and implement strategies to engage community stakeholders. In addition to our Neighborhood policy, we are on radio talk shows, disseminating information through a newsletter, and attending meetings that support Education throughout the territory.
    
4. Standards that promote high academic achievement; 
   The needs of students to reach high expectations in rigorous standards are at the forefront of educational discussions. The VIBE supports “reinventing” curriculum, instruction, and assessment through internal and external collaboration to meet the unique needs and interests of every student. In addition to developing policies that guide educational matters, our Professional Staff and Higher Education committee conducts reviews of applicants who are interested in being employed within the Virgin Islands public school system to ensure that our teachers are highly qualified. In order to support the Department of Education’s efforts to attract, develop, and retain teachers and staff who advance their vision and mission, the VIBE through its Certification policy continues to meet the changing needs of our professional educators. Additionally, there is an unwavering commitment to educating our students in an inspiring, safe, and supportive environment in facilities that meet the changing needs of our students. As such, on an annual basis our School Plants and Facilities Committee conducts site visits of every Virgin Islands public school. At the end of each school year, this committee also develops a School Management Accountability report.
    
5. Creation of an environment that is conducive to effective communication;
   The VIBE is a forum to encourage dialogue between the Board, students, parents, professional educators, and our community. We invite all persons to attend our board meetings.
    
6. Enhanced quality of professional development for all; 
    
7. Provision of adequate resources to achieve our vision, goals and objectives; 
   Annually, the VIBE assesses the changing needs of our programs and services. We prepare a budget for submission to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

To ensure that each child is provided with the best quality education which promotes our history and culture, guarantees academic achievement and builds strong communities.

Working with our education partners, the VIBE’s strategic direction adapts to address the challenges of the public education environment and to build for the future. We have adopted a number of important goals including:

• Working collaboratively with the Virgin Islands Department of Education for the purpose of receiving information, data, and statistics to construct/draft academic outcomes and goals for the students in the Virgin Islands
• Working to engage parents, students, educators, and the business community for the purpose of enlightening them about the mission and vision of the VIBE