(thunder rumbles) (birds chirping) (wind howling) - September 2017 turned our lives upside down.

The storms hit.

(wind howling) Devastated our community.

It was like, how do we get back to normalcy for these children as soon as possible?

Because at the end of the day, you wanna make sure that the children are getting what they need.

(brooding music) - Middle school had to move where the elementary students were and the elementary students eventually had to move to a temporary building like this, modulars on the same school grounds.

So it was a constant move for us.

- We can't use our track the way we used to.

We have to use facilities outside of the school, and it's really frustrating knowing that we are in modulars so long after the hurricanes.

They need to build back our schools.

- Education, leadership!

VID leadership team is in charge.

They have failed our children!

All of them!

All of them, and there are many of them.

The message that I get from the administration is that it takes a long time.

It takes time for the funds to be released or there's a lot of red tape.

But I mean, how long does it really take?

It's been since 2017.

That's a long time.

Am I concerned?

No.

I believe that these schools will be built.

Public education in this territory will never look the same.

(thunder rumbles) (birds chirping) (school bell ringing) (students chattering in background) - So when I was here last, we talked about the sun, all right?

And we talked about it as a metaphor.

So you can actually pull that piece of text evidence out from each poem and start with those first two types, okay?

As your metaphor type.

Some of my concerns are along the same lines of the student, like, when will we see progress?

We see a lot of things happening in terms of like, they took out some windows and they fenced off the area, but there's a little bit of distrust for, you know, our elected officials and, you know, for people higher in education when it comes to what the students think because they're like, "They don't care about us."

And no matter how much you tell them, yes, they do care about you.

There's a system and a, you know, sometimes you can't get around the red tape and people are trying.

Students don't really hear that.

They pretty much hear with their eyes, "This is what we see and we don't see much happening for us."

A lot of the classes that aren't necessary for us to graduate were cut, and we lost a lot of opportunities because of those cuts.

And for some of us, we have to share classes with other teachers who are also teaching classes at the same time which it makes it very much harder for us.

(wistful music) [Chevelle] We've started to see a lot of challenges with the modulars, with mold in the classroom, with AC's.

The AC stopped working.

Just, it makes being in the classrooms, in the modulars uncomfortable.

[Dionne] We're seeing a lot of deterioration in our modulars We've had to gut out our modulars because they're two units joined together.

So there's a place where, you know, you have that joint and what we're finding is the joint is separating.

And so it's really requiring us to go back and look at the roof and the flooring of the modulars.

In some cases, we've had to gut out classrooms to put brand new partitions in because the moisture was already within the rooms.

And so we're gonna have to continue to do that.

FEMA's not gonna give us any new anything unless there's another storm, and we're not claiming that.

And so it really requires us using the funding that we have to keep them well-maintained as much as possible.

I feel like the mold in the classrooms is getting worse and worse over time and we should fix the old buildings instead of having to fix the modulars again and again.

[Trainer] Go.

(Qian puffing) [Coach] Go.

I feel like we have a lot of talent, especially in athletes in the VI, but because we don't have the right equipment, they can't really showcase their talent and if they can't showcase their talent how could they get to the next level to where they really shine?

[Coach] Ready?

Go.

- It's crazy how much kids we lose just because we don't wanna invest in the youth.

And that's like the biggest campaign hooker, (laughs) that's the biggest campaign hooker like, "Yeah, we for the youth, we for education."

But look at our schools, look at our ballparks, look our fields.

It's like anything you do with your recreation, your leisure time is important that promotes, you know, mental health, physical health, whatever it might be.

But it's very important for the children 'cause it give them that discipline.

Like, if you weren't doing good in school, you can't play ball.

So you love ball, so you're gonna do the school ting, you know what I'm saying?

You could consider me a teacher.

You don't got to consider me a coach it's just I teach in the subject of baseball, you know what I mean?

But it is very important but I don't think our leaders think it's very important.

(people taking in background) (baseball bat pings) Just because they fix some fence from FEMA and get some money, build the fences and a new scoreboard it's like, "Oh, we about the kids."

It's like painting your house and the roof still leaking, you know what I mean?

[Child] Rock on three.

One, two, three.

[All] Rock.

Let's go, let's go, let's go.

Good job, good job, good job.

(optimistic music) - And this school we filed a grievance on.

Many schools because of the working conditions.

The temperature is unbearable for our members.

There are times when the schools have to shut down because there is no electricity, there's no electricity.

So all of this is impacting instruction.

[Protestors] No justice, no peace.

No justice, no peace.

No justice, no peace.

(horns honking) [Rosa] The teacher had a protest.

Students protested.

The community, parents came out.

If you elect me to serve, I'm going to serve my people.

I'm going try to do as much as I can, given the power I have to make it happen.

And I backed those teachers when they went out and the paraprofessionals and support staff.

I backed them because they had enough.

They had enough.

(whistles blowing) (drums thumping) - So the governor, Albert Bryan, when he took office understood a recovery was a priority and the schools were the priority of the priorities.

And we were immediately engaged with FEMA in discussing the damages for the schools and understanding the benefits that were being provided to the territory.

Early on in the disaster, when all of the allocations were being established, the program we'd projected based on a $5 billion public assistance program.

And we sort of set aside close to 500 million to be able to meet the match.

We're now looking at potentially $15 billion, which the territory really does not have the resources to be able to meet.

The money is not here.

It's not sitting in the government's coffers.

So we have been talking with FEMA on waving the match for the Virgin Islands.

(thought-provoking music) - I'm concerned that if they don't get started soon, you know, they'll never get rebuilt.

This place is very small.

Everyone knows the conditions that are going on in these schools.

[Rosa] You know that even though you get all this funds, things are still not going to happen.

You know, it's management, it's who is at the helm that moves projects and brings services to the rank and file.

It's a very long, multi-step process but we are going through that and we have been able to break ground on our first new school, which is the Arthur Richards pre-K to 8 school on St. Croix.

[Dionne] We have been accused of having this Louis Vuitton vision for the Department of Education.

Literally that was said.

And I said, yeah, I do have a Louis Vuitton vision for the Department of Education because our children are not less than any child on the mainland, and our children deserve the best.

(gentle music) [Chaneel] Having experienced firsthand the types of schools that are being built for students throughout the United States.

Being a Virgin Islander, I cannot build less.

I just can't because the schools we build today, students will be sitting in these campuses in 2044.

They'll be sitting in those campuses in 2064.

We have to be very clear of how we're dealing with crises, and it's been a learning experience for GVI, the Government of the Virgin Islands, as well as the FEMA officials in dealing with the territory and the magnitude of devastation that we have.

[Chaneel] My biggest hurdle in this process is patience.

This process is teaching me patience.

There are so many agencies and people involved in the process.

Everybody has to do their due diligence, and I just have to be patient until money falls into place and I don't control that.

So this, this is where we are.

(slow-building music) How much more patience can I have when in sixth grade is when the school became what it is and I'm now graduating high school.

It was worth it for me because I did what I was supposed to do and I accomplished my goal, which is graduating class of 2024.

[Leontyne] We're all committed to teaching the children of the Virgin Islands in this territory to make sure that they are learning and they're well prepared when they go out into this world.

That's what we're here for.

[Rosa] We got to instill in our children to speak up, raise your voices against things that impact you and your generations to come.

(people cheering) [Dionne] By the authority given to me by law, as the Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Education, I officially declare you, graduates (students cheering) of Charlotte Amalie High School.

Turn your tassels.

Congratulations!

(uplifting music) (poignant music)