Opening went ‘smoothly’ for other schools

Although four were ordered to remain closed until further notice, the first day back was successful for the remaining schools, said Education Commissioner Rita Sablan.

Sablan spent the first day visiting the secondary schools in the district.

“I’m very pleased with outcome of secondary schools,” she said. “And I did not see any concerns at the elementary schools.”

The opening of Tinian’s and Rota’s schools also went well, she added.

The schools were able to handle the power outages, Sablan said. While power did go out at Chacha Oceanview Junior High School, she said, teachers and students worked through it by opening doors and windows.

Katrina Lizama, principal of San Antonio Elementary, said she visited all of the classrooms and spoke to students. They told her they were ready to be back.

“It was a long summer,” she said. “They’re pretty excited.”

The power at San Antonio went out at 2pm, allowing students to spend the majority of their first day back with air conditioning and electricity. The school made sure their water tank and generator were ready for the first day.

Gov. Benigno Fitial ordered four schools —Kagman Elementray School, Koblerville Elementary School, Marianas High School and Oleai Head Start — to delay their opening after they failed to pass water quality tests.

Even though the elementary schools later passed the test, workers went ahead and cleaned and refilled the tank, Lizama said.

“We wanted to make sure it was really clean,” she said.

Craig Garrison, vice principal at Saipan Southern High School, said the first day went smoothly.

All students were in class 45 minutes after school started, he said. Usually on the first days students are finalizing or making corrections to their schedule, but the majority of students were already in class yesterday morning, he said.

“The few left over were expedited right through, and we got them back into classes and ready to learn,” he said.

Garrison said water and power were not an issue for the school. Students went without power for only about one hour, and water tanks are cleaned every three months.

It’s unfortunate the four schools were forced to delay their opening, Garrison said.

“I imagine the Governor, since he asked we suspend school, I’m assuming the Governor didn’t like the fact we went ahead and opened, and that’s why he sent sanitation to see how many schools he could close.”