BEH inspects 22 schools

Inspectors from the Bureau of Environmental Heath conducted initial site inspections on 22 public schools after the agency earlier failed to distribute sanitation permits.

BEH inspectors have given the principals permit applications to complete and return with supporting documents and application fees, said Department of Public Health lawyer Alex Gorman.

“Once those are received, then the sanitary permits will be issued,” Gorman said in an e-mail. “The process is proceeding normally at this time just as it would for any business required to have a sanitary permit.”

BEH manager John Tagabuel said in September that the agency had failed to distribute the permits.

He said the agency did not follow up or enforce the law with school management, although schools are regularly inspected once or twice a year, Tagabuel said.

The issue came to light when Gov. Benigno Fitial asked DPH to create a task force that would check the preparedness of public schools during the island’s extended power outages.

The night before the first day of classes, Fitial signed an executive order delaying the start in four schools—Marianas High School, Kagman Elementary, Oleai Head Start and Koblerville Elementary—after water quality test results were not processed in time for the first day.

Under normal circumstances, BEH can recommend to the Secretary of Public Health to close an establishment, but because there were no permits, the Department of Public Health recommended Fitial use his authority to delay the opening.

According to the Commonwealth Environmental Health and Sanitation Act of 2000, a health inspector must visit all schools—public or private, kindergarten through college—and declare the school sanitary before the school is allowed to purchase a permit. Permits are renewed annually.

During inspections, BEH will check for water supply adequacy in quantity and quality; sewage and waste disposal; cleanliness of the facility and premises; protection of equipment and other materials from dirt and contamination; maintenance of equipment; restroom facilities; control and exclusion of insects and rodents; and infectious disease control.

Establishments that do not comply receive a verbal warning or letter, a late penalty fee, and if corrections are not made, a recommendation to the Secretary of Public Health for closure.