PSS commissioner fired

In a move that caught even Education Commissioner Cynthia I. Deleon Guerrero by surprise, she is being terminated from her post effective Nov. 5, 2017.

In her stead, Yvonne Pangelinan, the associate commissioner for student and support services, would serve as the acting education commissioner.

Board of Education chair Marylou Ada, who spoke with Saipan Tribune yesterday, said the BOE is implementing “another approach as far as education [is concerned].”

When asked why Deleon Guerrero was let go, Ada merely said the reasons were “personnel matters that are very confidential.”

“Commissioner Deleon Guerrero served us well and we remain positive and focused as we go through this transition phase,” said Ada. “We are very positive and very focused because we have schools to run.”

Deleon Guerrero, as the sole employee of the CNMI Board of Education, heads the Public School System, which has over 2,000 employees.

According to Ada, the BOE unanimously voted to terminate Deleon Guerrero, who is currently in Honolulu, Hawaii, to attend a Head Start conference.

In an email message to PSS employees, Deleon Guerrero said the BOE sent her termination notice via email, which said her termination would be effective on Nov. 5, 2017, the day she is scheduled to return to the CNMI. The BOE letter to Deleon Guerrero stated it to be a termination without cause.

Prior to that action, Deleon Guerrero said she submitted to the BOE last Oct. 6, 2017, a “letter of concern.” She did not specify what those concerns were in her email message to PSS staff but, according to a social media post Deleon Guerrero made later, she said that information would be made public.

“They never responded [to the letter of concern] except for this termination letter, which I received upon landing in Honolulu,” said Deleon Guerrero in her email.

“Despite the disruption that this will inevitably cause, I ask that everyone remains focused and strong in continuing our services, advocacy, and work for our students. Our students have and must remain our focus, your focus. I thank you all for your dedication and commitment to PSS,” added Deleon Guerrero’s email.

Deleon Guerrero became the education commissioner on Nov. 21, 2016. She succeeded Dr. Rita Sablan after the latter retired as PSS commissioner in August 2016.

In the period since August 2016 up to Deleon Guerrero’s assumption of office, PSS was functioning through acting commissioners.