2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 17 - Education
Chapter 5 - Public Schools
§ 42. Free school books; responsibility for return

(a) The Department of Education shall supply, free of charge, all text books and any form of electronic books and digital resources to be used in the public schools, as deemed appropriate by the Virgin Islands Board of Education.

(b) The Commissioner of Education may require receipts from parents or guardians of pupils for books furnished to pupils, and parents or guardians shall be legally responsible for the return of all books delivered to pupils, or financially responsible to the extent of the invoice price of new books, and to the extent of one-half of the invoice price for used books as determined by the Commissioner of Education, if such books are lost or damaged.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the monies collected under subsection (b) hereinabove shall be deposited into a “Textbook Reimbursement Revolving Fund” which is hereby created and established as a separate and distinct fund within the Treasury of the Virgin Islands. The Commissioner of Finance shall disburse monies from the Textbook Reimbursement Revolving Fund only upon authorization of the Commissioner of Education, and monies collected and deposited into said Fund may be expended by the Commissioner of Education or his duly authorized designees in any manner which, in his discretion, will best effect the replacement of lost or damaged textbooks to individual schools that have suffered from such losses or damages. Each school shall receive replacement textbooks paid for out of this Fund, as necessary and valued up to an amount equal to such school's proportionate contribution to the Fund.