icw. Daily Herald SXM Newspaper Article June 20, 2019 …PSVE teachers down tools and sit in over uncertainties in vacation pay
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – I have taken note of the developments at the FAVE, St. Maarten Academy PSVE and am gravely concerned with the way that this situation is being handled. As I have stated in previous correspondence, the school boards, as employers with personnel and staff under their charge, remain responsible to their staff to behave in a way that a good employer should and take the necessary measures that good employers would take to meet their basic obligations to their employees.
In the position of Minister, I have little authority and powers to intervene directly in this Human Resource matter between the FAVE school board and its personnel and staff. The FAVE school board has stated in this morning’s newspaper communique that they were unable to make the necessary reserves in order to ensure that vacation allowances are paid out due to the subsidy amount granted for the school year 2018-2019. This despite receiving subsidy that covers the expected cost for the provision of education based on their actual student numbers. The FAVE school board should be well versed with the workings of the Lump Sum System and should be able to plan and project the growth of their schools and the effects that it could have on the subsidy that they will receive. However, that this appears to not be the current practice is a serious point of concern.
Although the FAVE school board has launched an official appeal against the 2018-2019 subsidy, at no point prior to this, during the last five years, in spite of a steady decline in student enrolment within FAVE schools, did FAVE express any concerns regarding meeting its financial obligations to its employees until June 5, 2019.
Nevertheless the Ministry, acknowledging the urgency of resolving this issue and in light of the claims made by the FAVE School board regarding its liquidity position, has sought to obtain the required financial information to determine to what degree the Ministry can assist in resolving this issue. To this end, the Ministry immediately responded to FAVE’s request for additional funding dated June 5, 2019, on June 7, 2019, requesting the required information. To date, critical information regarding FAVE’s liquidity position, that would enable the Ministry to properly assess the situation and respond accordingly has not been provided by the FAVE Board.
It must also be noted, that the implementation of the granted subsidy for the school year 2018-2019 went into effect as of February, this means that for the months of August 2018 up to and including January 2019, the FAVE school board actually received more subsidy than they were scheduled to receive for the school year 2018-2019. Proper financial management behooves that the school board would have taken these points into consideration when planning the financial year for the school instead of having their personnel be uncertain of their vacation salary in June.
It is important that persons bear in mind that the school boards are equipped and competent to enact necessary measures in order to mitigate financial complications and take critical management decisions for the benefit and longevity of the schools under their charge and the provision of quality education to their students. This includes establishing other sources of financing. It should be stated in this regard that subsidized schools are free and encouraged to seek additional forms of financing, as private entities. School boards have chosen this form of governance in order to maintain their independent power and freedom to determine how they will manage themselves. Government’s role in this regard is to facilitate their financing for the provision of quality education for all students on Sint Maarten which the Ministry does through the Lump Sum system, which has been in effect since 2010.
