U.S. Virgin Islands, Interior Department sign preliminary agreement on St. John land exchange for school site

The U.S. Virgin Islands government and the U.S. Department of the Interior signed a preliminary agreement on October 22, 2020, to pursue a land exchange involving the National Park Service and a proposed school site on St. John.

Government House said the non-binding agreement called for the two governments to work together over the following 12 months to evaluate the proposed swap. The exchange involved an 11-acre parcel within Virgin Islands National Park and an 18-acre island owned by the territorial government that is surrounded by National Park Service land and waters.

The agreement was tied to long-running efforts to build the first public K-12 school on St. John. Government House said public education on St. John was available only through eighth grade, with high school students commuting by boat to St. Thomas during the school year.

According to the release, the National Park Service and the Virgin Islands government were to complete appraisals for both parcels and carry out environmental and historic-preservation compliance reviews, with opportunities for public comment during the process.

Government House said the Interior Department's Office of Insular Affairs provided $300,000 to the National Park Service in September 2020 to help fund the environmental compliance process.

The release said discussions between the Virgin Islands and the federal government over expanding education on St. John had continued for nearly three decades. It said steps taken between 2012 and 2014 identified an 11-acre parcel in the Catherineberg Estate as a possible school site, and that Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. offered Whistling Cay for consideration in an exchange in November 2019.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/trump-administration-signs-agreement-with-u-s-virgin-islands-to-pursue-a-land-exchange-for-new-school-on-st-john/