(a) There is established the Virgin Islands Stenography Scholarship for deserving Virgin Islands persons pursuing a certificate or associate degree program in stenography, court reporting, live captioning, or other related fields. The scholarship is funded by an annual appropriation by the Legislature of the Virgin Islands.
(b) The Virgin Islands Board of Education shall administer the scholarship and adopt regulations setting forth the minimum performance standards upon which the scholarship may be awarded, the uses for scholarship funds, the conditions that must be met to maintain receipt of the scholarship funds, and any other conditions the Board of Education may impose.
(c) The Board shall award the scholarship in the amount of $5,000 annually to one person, per district, who must be a resident of the Virgin Islands, for a maximum of three years.
(d) Recipients of the Virgin Islands Stenography Scholarship shall execute a contract with the Board of Education agreeing to return to work in the Virgin Islands not later than 90 days after completion of the course of study and further agreeing to accept employment with the Government of the Virgin Islands for an equivalent of as many years that they have received the scholarship. The scholarship recipient shall first apply to the Legislature of the Virgin Islands for employment. If the Legislature does not have a need for a stenographer, then the recipient shall seek employment with either the judicial or the executive branch of the Government of the Virgin Islands.