BOE stands by COE selection

Pending a review by the Office of the Attorney General, Cynthia Deleon Guerrero officially assumes the office of Commissioner of Education effective today.

The Board of Education stood pat in its decision to appoint Deleon Guerrero as COE during an emergency meeting last Friday at the Public School System’s Federal Grants Office.

The board recognizes that many disapprove the selection process and is looking at a third party to review the process to “make sure we didn’t do anything illegal or improper, and we followed the law pursuant to our authority under the constitution and law,” said BOE chair Herman Guerrero.

In a statement on Sunday, the board said that two questions have been raised regarding Deleon Guerrero’s appointment: her qualifications for the job and whether she was involved in the process, being the head of the PSS Human Resources.

“Mrs. Deleon Guerrero has met the qualifications that were advertised. She has the requisite amount of both classroom experience and administrative experience. Her time as an administrator at the Northern Marianas College is relevant experience and was properly considered in her application. Furthermore, Mrs. Deleon Guerrero properly recused herself from the selection of the Commissioner of Education. This was made known to her staff, the board, and to the legal counsels. She did not participate in any way or have any information in advance, or information that was not shared with the other candidates,” the statement adds.

It said Board of Education stands by its selection, the process it followed, and its new Commissioner of Education, Deleon Guerrero.

However, because of public concerns, the board has asked the Office of the Attorney General to review the candidates, their qualifications, and the process of their selection.

Guerrero said if the selection process proves clean, the BOE would then push through with Deleon Guerrero’s appointment. As of now, the decision to appoint her remains.

“If we made a mistake, perhaps the board will rectify that, but at this time, we cannot just keep dragging it. We need to move forward,” he said.

Guerrero did clarify however, that the decision still depends on the third party’s review of the selection process.

“We need to have it reviewed. [To check if] we followed the law and all of the concerns that were raised. If we did, then whatever the decision is, the board will review and make a final decision based on that,” he said.

“Cyndi [Deleon Guerrero] will assume responsibility, starting Monday,” he added. “We cannot just keep delaying it or putting it on hold at this time.”

Guerrero said the third party—in this case, the OAG—would be reviewing whether or not the BOE was transparent in its selection process, according to the complaints of some teachers.

“We are giving the selection process to see whether or not we have complied with the Constitution and also what we said [in regards to] how we were going to do the process,” Guerrero said. “Any other complaints in terms of transparency and everything is the reason why we wanted to make sure. [To see if] we followed what we said we were going to do, what the law is, and what our authority is under the constitution.”

“The legal counsel is looking into those things already,” Guerrero said.

The statement said the board will provide the AG’s office any and all information it requests and will await its review.