BOE exec: $50M PSS budget request dims

The chances of public schoolteachers getting a salary increase and schools getting their much needed repairs and renovations this year are dimming, according to a ranking Board of Education official.

Board of Education chair Roman C. Benavente said the teachers’ salary increase and maintenance of schools would have been possible if the Public School System gets its $50 million budget proposal for fiscal year 2006.

“I don’t know if they can come up with the $50 million, I’m not sure,” Benavente said. He was quick to add, though, that this is just his personal opinion.

The current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 this year. The Legislature is supposed to pass a new budget before the fiscal year ends. The House of Representatives, however, has yet to introduce a budget measure. If no new budget is passed by the time the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, the government will automatically start operating based on the level set by the last approved budget.

Benavente said the amount they are asking for is based on the actual need of PSS and that PSS and the board would stand firm in their request for a $50 million budget.

The school system currently operates on a $37.2 million budget, which has not increased in the last five years. Benavente said that PSS would be glad to have an approved budget ranging from $46 million to $50 million.

He said, though, that even if the Legislature approved the $50 million request, the school system would still have problems if government revenue is low.

Benavente had earlier appealed to the Legislature to fulfill its promises to the CNMI education system in resolving problems such as overcrowding and the repair and maintenance of schools.

The PSS budget for fiscal year 2006 proposes a $50 million budget, which is a $12 million increase over this fiscal year’s approved budget of only $37.2 million.

The increased budget includes a $484,448 allocation for hiring new bus drivers and diesel mechanics and the repair and maintenance of newly acquired buses; $2.5 million for utilities of all public schools; $2.55 million for the deferred maintenance of all schools; $1 million for anticipated retirement costs, accrued leave, and military leave for PSS employees who have been called to active duty; and $1.5 million for the salary increase of PSS employees.

The additional budget also includes money to hire new personnel and a staff development officer, funds for student activities such as spelling bees, interscholastic sport activities, technology such as computers and school Internet access, JROTC support, operational costs for curriculum assessment on SPED, Head Start and Early Childhood.

The increase also attempts to fund the privatization of all security services, which could be hired at a lesser cost than a PSS teacher.

Some 20 computer technicians are also being eyed to alleviate the load of three technical support staff that PSS has been relying on to service all public schools computers. Also, hiring a network administrator, a computer specialist, a webmaster, and a procurement officer would help maintain PSS’ increasingly complex and expanding network.