2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 17 - Education
Chapter 5 - Public Schools
§ 41a. Bilingual education program
(a) The Department of Education is authorized and directed to establish and maintain a bilingual education program with special courses and classroom instruction, in English and Spanish, taught and administered by qualified educators and teachers who are fluent in the English and Spanish languages, in any public elementary or secondary school in the Virgin Islands in which (10) or more pupils are unable to speak, understand, read and/or write the English language well enough to carry on the normal class activities of the grade in which he is enrolled. Particular emphasis shall be placed upon the establishment of said bilingual education program in the lower elementary grades and in career and technical education courses.
(b) The Government of the United States Virgin Islands accepts the provisions of the Act of Congress, approved January 2, 1968, cited as the “Bilingual Education Act” and any act or acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto. The Virgin Islands Department of Education shall be the sole agency of the administration of bilingual programs under this section and the Act of Congress referred to herein, and shall—
(1) plan for and take such necessary steps leading to the development of programs designed to meet the special educational needs of children of limited English-speaking ability in public schools having a high concentration of such children;
(2) recruit and train persons to participate in bilingual education programs or teachers, teacher-aides, or other ancillary education personnel such as counselors; and
(3) provide the necessary teaching materials and equipment for such bilingual education programs.
