Dear Editor,
A recent editorial provided a timely reminder of the mutual responsibilities employers and employees share to maintain respectful, lawful, and professional relationships under the laws of St. Maarten. Unfortunately, the current reality for some educators on the island paints a drastically different picture. The ongoing pension situation affecting the faculty and staff at the Charlotte Brookson Academy for the Performing Arts (CBA) is a grave injustice and a profound disservice to the professionals shaping the future generation of our country.
While local labor laws clearly mandate that employees must be registered in the national pension fund to secure their retirement, this statutory obligation has apparently been ignored by CBA. To date, not a single employee at CBA has been properly inducted into the Algemeen Pensioenfonds Sint Maarten (APS).
For over seven years, faculty and staff have consistently requested answers from the school's Board of Directors regarding pension contributions, financial management, and our status at APS. As far back as 2019, these concerns were raised in staff meetings, meetings with the CBA Board, employee evaluations and even through written communication from the Windward Island Teachers’ Union (WITU). Yet, clear and satisfactory responses from the relevant authorities have remained entirely elusive.
Even more alarming is that for the past two years, the CBA Board has actively withheld the employee portion of the pension payments directly from our salaries. However, these funds have never actually been remitted to APS. This leads one to assume that hard-working employees are not only being denied their rightful retirement security but also having their earned wages deducted under false pretenses.
In our most recent attempt to gain clarity, a formal letter signed by 16 members of staff dated May 25, 2026, was sent to the CBA Board requesting:
1.
A complete breakdown of all pension deductions withheld from our (the undersigned) salaries from the commencement of these deductions to the present date.
2.
Written confirmation that the withheld funds remain unused and are currently available in the school’s account.
3.
Written confirmation that the Board’s required matching contributions are being withheld.
4.
We have been informed that the pension fund administrator, APS, has requested an initial lump-sum payment as a prerequisite for official registration in the plan; however, this request has not been met. We would like to know the exact amount requested by APS, the date this request was made, and the specific reasons the CBA Board did not meet this financial obligation.
The Board was given a reasonable timeframe to provide the requested information. On June 03, 2026, the deadline, the President of the Board, Mrs. May-Ling Chun-Derby, sent a brief note stating: “Please know that our lawyer is handling the subject matter, and a reply letter will be sent to everyone.”
Deferring to legal counsel is yet another stalling tactic. The CBA Board must provide absolute financial transparency and immediately account for the withheld funds that belong to staff. These are not mere administrative nuances; they are fundamental employee rights protected under Sint Maarten's labor framework. Workers have a legal and moral right to know that deductions made from their hard-earned salaries are properly managed and secure. This ongoing uncertainty creates severe anxiety, mistrust, and financial hardship for the employees involved.
The issue extends beyond Charlotte Brookson Academy, as Sint Maarten has repeatedly faced national conversations about governance, accountability, and public trust. At a time when citizens demand greater transparency from public bodies and organizations that receive public support, educational institutions should lead by example rather than become subjects of controversy.
The employees of CBA are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for our voices to be heard. We are asking for accountability and respect. We are making an open plea to those entrusted with governance to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities to employees and students alike.
To suggest that the staff has not been “sounding the alarm” ignores nearly a decade of documented efforts by staff and WITU representatives. The employees of CBA have demonstrated unimaginable patience. We have continued our diligent work despite the cloud of uncertainty hanging over our futures. However, our patience should not be mistaken for acceptance, nor should professionalism be mistaken for weakness.
We are urgently appealing to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (MECYS), the Minister of Labor, the wider Government of Sint Maarten, and any member of the public or legal authority who can offer valuable assistance. When public funds and employees’ hard-earned salaries cannot be properly accounted for, it ceases to be a private dispute and becomes a matter of public integrity and governance. To our community and our leaders, please do not allow those who dedicate their lives to educating Sint Maarten’s children to be exploited and ignored any longer.
The time for excuses has passed. The time for transparency, accountability, and independent verification is now.
Sincerely,
The Affected Members of Staff of Charlotte Brookson Academy for the Performing Arts
