CBA Staff Demand Answers Over Years of Unresolved Pension Concerns
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Dear Mr. 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 into 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 St. 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 Teacher’s 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 leaves one to assume that hard-working employees are not only being denied their rightful retirement security, but their earned wages are being 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:
- A complete breakdown of all pension deductions withheld from our salaries from the commencement of these deductions to the present date.
- Written confirmation that the withheld funds remain unused and are currently available in the school’s account.
- Written confirmation that the Board’s required matching contributions are being withheld.
- We have been informed that the pension fund administrator, APS, requested an initial lump-sum payment as a prerequisite before we can be officially registered in the plan, however this request has not been met. We would like to know the exact amount that was requested by APS, the date when this request was made by APS, and the specific reasons why this financial obligation was not met by the CBA Board.
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 correspondence 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 the labor framework of St. Maarten. 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 St. 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 be leading by example, not becoming 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 have 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), Minister of Labor, the wider Government of St. 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 it 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 St. 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
(𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳. 𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺, 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦.)