Marigot:--- Even though there are close to 9,500 students inscribed in the schools on the French side of the island and stand to benefit from bilingual education only about 60 persons turned up to march in support of Robert Romney. Participating in the protest march were some Collectivity workers clad in their working uniform and several territorial council members.The marchers left the parking lot of Nina Duverly School about 9:30 am and marched through the streets of Marigot carrying posters. Posters that reads "Romney must remain on St. Martin, Respect our Specifities, An Excellent Education System for St Martin."
Their first stop was at the Collectivity of St. Martin where they met with Vice President Claire Javois and other council members as President Frantz Gumbs and Senator Louis Constant Fleming are currently off island. The delegation also marched to the office of Robert Romney where they showed him that the St. Martiners are in support of him before heading the Prefecture of Saint Martin to meet with officials there in the absence of Prefet Delegue Jacques Simonnet.
Aline Choisy, head of the support committee told reporters that members of the territorial council are scheduled to meet on May 11 to discuss the removal of Romney and other matters related matters to education. It is expected that the council would vote on Romney's transfer at that meeting to make sure that Robert Romney a native St. Martiner who is fully competent remains on St. Martin to precede with the education package he started months ago. Choisy said the march on Wednesday is the first of a series of action that they intend to take to make sure Romney remains on St. Martin. Choisy said they also have a petition for those in support of Romney to sign which will be sent to the Ministry of Education. Choisy said she was not disappointed with the amount of people that turned out to march but made clear that wars are never won with an entire army. She said St. Martiners always wait until the last minute before they join any action. "Actually I am St. Martiner and I know my people only act when the fire is under their feet." Choisy urged the parents of all the schools to get involved with their children's education and not to wait until there is a problem in the schools with their children."We are living in a bilingual country and I would like for the parents to be more attentive when it comes to education. It is not acceptable for certain parts of France to have bilingual education and for St. Martin where students are speaking English, Spanish and Creole and they do not have an education system that corresponds to their needs." Choisy said she believes that if the students of St. Martin are given bilingual education they would be more productive academically. Choisy said St. Martin has one of the best in the person of Robert Romney, a native St. Martiner who is bilingual, who also knows the problems the schools are faced with.
Choisy further explained that the reason they are reacting to the decision taken by the Rectorat is the manner in which Romney was informed about his removal. She said Romney was invited to a meeting in St. Barths on March 18th and it was there they announced that he would be removed from St. Martin back to Guadeloupe as a technical adviser to the Rectorat on Bilingual education. "Actually we do not think that Romney has received a promotion, we believe the Rectorat is sanctioning him and as such is putting him aside in Guadeloupe."
Choisy said the rector informed Romney that he was guiding St. Martin based on emotions and as such they felt it is necessary to remove him. She made clear that Romney's appointment was sanctioned by the Ministry but Romney was not given the means to execute his job here. Furthermore, those at the Rectorat humiliated Romney when they announced in St. Barths that he would be removed come September 2010.
Expressing concerns about the decision taken by the Rector is Lenny Mussington a teacher by profession. Mussington said he believes that the decision to remove Romney is a political one and the people of needs to get an explanation from the central government. Mussington said that Romney was the first St. Martiner to be nominated to such a prestigious position on St. Martin and removing him would be counterproductive.
Mussington said he personally spoke to Romney on several occasions and his main objective is to give the students attending school on St. Martin the opportunity to have a bilingual education system. He said Romney wants students to master both languages here so that they could perform better in school. Mussington said bilingual education would be extremely beneficial to students attending school on the French side of the island because they already are speaking English and instead of trying to master a language (French) they do not know is always more difficult. 
Mussington said he is basically endorsed Romney's approach and is rather surprised at the decision taken by the Rectorat. He said anyone who knows the statistics would see that the majority of the students attending school on St. Martin are not successful academically. He said the education system on St. Martin has been neglected over the years and the time has come to further research the problems faced in education and remedy it. Mussington said he do not know what is the real issue with the French Government and Romney are and he want to know if they have an issue with his approach on bilingualism. Mussington urged the committee to make sure they fully inform the parents and the population at large about the issues facing Romney and the education system on St. Martin.
In an invited comment opposition councilor and leader of the RRR Alain Richardson said education on St. Martin is not given the amount of attention it deserves and the situation today is far beyond Robert Romney. Richardson said St. Martin has certain areas of competency based on the organic law where they can be forceful. He said particularly relating to languages and cultural reality in the school programs. Richardson said if these possibilities are not exercised then St. Martin and its future generation are doomed. Richardson said Robert Romney is the only St Martiner who was appointed to a position where he could contribute to his island's development prior to retirement. However, Romney was not given the necessary means to work and neither did the Collectivity use him to fully enhance education. Richardson said should the Collectivity allow the Rectorat to remove Romney then they are definitely sending the wrong message to St. Martiners who are currently working in France, Martinique or Guadeloupe and are willing to return home to make their contributions to their island. Richardson said while it is necessary to make sure Romney remains on St. Martin to finish the job he started, the Collectivity has to also make sure the means to execute his job is given to him by the Rectorat or State. Richardson said the Organic law has given St. Martin the power to address the problems relating to culture, languages and education and it should be used to the fullest extent. Richardson said that St. Martin had the right person in the right position but regrettably the Collectivity did not capitalize on his capabilities. He said the intention of the RRR is to address this matter in the next council meeting and if they are successful in keeping him on the island then there should be a hand's on approach on the foundation for education on St. Martin.
SMN News also learnt that there are persons working within the education system on St. Martin that are pushing Romney's removal. Sources said there are persons who are giving the Rector information on St Martin's plan of action. "These persons are giving every detail to the rector who already contacted Romney on Wednesday morning and informed him that the decision on his removal has already been made and that the voices of the street would not change anything."
