Inos assures PTA PSS will continue to operate

Commissioner of Education Rita H. Inos assured parents that the Public School System will continue to operate with its meager resources to support children in their learning.

In a meeting held Wednesday afternoon with officials from various PTA groups, she discussed her series of meetings with school principals in an effort to realign resources and outline the support services needed to operate the schools.

“I have already met with your principals and we are sparing some of our non-certified at the school site,” she said.

Although, she didn’t quantify how many will be renewed this coming May 8, PSS insiders said majority of the non-certified employees will keep their job. The support staff line-up was reportedly agreeable to the school principals.

Over 200 non-teaching personnel are up for renewal this month and a group of teachers, staff and parents earlier marched to the Capitol Hill to seek the help of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio for their continued service.

Inos told the group that the number of separations from the system this fiscal year had helped allocate funding to pay some of those that will be renewed.

“I assure the PTA that the line-up at the school site is conducive to our budget. Services will not be disrupted, although it will be minimal compared to the time when we had plenty,” she said.

In mapping out the personnel line-up for school year 1999-2000, schools may need to share resources. She said no school should have more, while the other has less.

During their forum with Tenorio, the group was concerned over the safety and health conditions at the school site if security guards and janitors will not be renewed.

The Commissioner informed them that PSS already lost 230 people, who were mostly working at the head office. But PSS has continued to operate. Non-certified personnel also include top level people, from Associate positions to counselors, she said.

The Board of Education has also identified their priority within the system which is to maintain teachers at all times in the classrooms. The proposed 10 percent pay cut could have saved everybody on board but schools didn’t approve it, Inos said.

“With teachers as our priority, we pursue to keep them in tact and not to lose them in this fragile situation. Having teachers all on board, we cannot afford to have all the support staff,” she said.

Meanwhile, in confronting the kindergarten issue, Inos again refrained from making any commitments to continue the program until next school year.

“We are trying to realign our resources and I have not closed my doors yet,” she said.