PSS pins hope on Senate for buses, books, CUC arrears

House Speaker Rafael S. Demapan, second left, talks with Reps. Angel A. Demapan, seated left, Antonio P. Sablan, and vice speaker Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero during a recess in Monday’s session. (Jon Perez)

The House of Representatives passed Monday a bill that provides additional funding for various government institutions, including the Public School System, which will get an additional over $10.2 million. House Bill 19-212 is now up for Senate review and passage.

HB 19-212 will be funding more than 10 government agencies, including the Northern Marianas College and the Northern Marianas Trades Institute.

If the bill passes the Senate, PSS would get over $10.2 million to buy textbooks, school buses, and to pay for PSS’ outstanding balance with the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

NMC president Dr. Carmen Fernandez thanked the House for passing the bill.

“We are extremely thankful for the governor and Legislature’s support of HB 19-212,” said Fernandez. “The additional funds will help the college pay for expenses related to facilities improvements, the purchase of new classroom furniture, technology upgrades, and other critical costs.”

Board of Education chair Herman Guerrero is also pleased with the outcome of the House session.

“It’s a plus for PSS. We really need the money because the textbooks are very critical, especially for K-12. Those are just the basic instructional materials that we’re providing for the kids. We still need other textbooks for teachers as supplemental textbooks to be used in the classroom,” said Guerrero.

“We are very glad and hope that the Senate goes along without amending it because it poses another challenge for us and we might miss the opportunity to purchase the necessary books for the children,” added Guerrero.

Money allotted for the purchase of textbooks totals $5.5 million.

“The associate commissioner for Curriculum and Instructional services [Jackie Quitugua] told us that if we don’t purchase this by the end of this year, then the cost of the books would go up,” he added.

A total of five school buses would be bought, amounting to about $1 million.

“We also really need buses for the island of Saipan. Unfortunately, it costs about $200,000 per bus,” said Guerrero. “We also need to pay off the debts that [PSS] owe CUC. We did include that in our budget, [but now] at least we can [pay for it] because CUC sometimes need the money,” said Guerrero.

About $2.7 million is allotted for payment of PSS’ outstanding balance with CUC.

The rest would fund Saipan, Rota, and Tinian schools’ maintenance and repairs.

NMC and NMTI will also be receiving an additional $1 million and $150,000, respectively, with expenditure authority for NMC president Dr. Carmen Fernandez and NMTI CEO Agnes McPhetres.