Mother appeals ‘unlawful’ PSS decision

The mother of a former Hopwood Junior High School student appealed to the Board of Education on Thursday to correct what she describes as an “unlawful” decision rendered by the Public School System in the case of her daughter.

Zenaida Cuerdo, who spoke during the board’s public comment Thursday, said the office of Education Commissioner Rita Sablan did not remedy the wrongful action of Hopwood school administrators when they refused to name her daughter as the Board of Education awardee during her graduation in 2010. Instead, the student was awarded third honors.

“Hopwood Junior High unlawfully changed the rules after my daughter had already earned the award in order to be able to give it to someone else. The way they changed the rules was not legal, and the new system used is not fair or objective in any way,” Cuerdo told the board members, who later told her they will look into the matter.

Cuerdo disclosed that her child’s case was raised right after her graduation last year with the conduct of administrative hearings. Unsatisfied with the hearings’ result, the mother appealed the decision to the commissioner’s office, which affirmed the hearing’s findings.

The BOE, Cuerdo said, has the responsibility to exercise control over the Public School System.

Saipan Tribune learned that Cuerdo was earlier informed by a BOE assistant that “there is no further administrative appeal,” a remark she described as “highly improper” and an “insult” to her intelligence.

“Consideration of my appeal is precisely the kind of BOE role contemplated by the Constitution, which gives it the duty to formulate policy and exercise control over the PSS through the superintendent,” said the mother.

Cuerdo plans to elevate the matter to court if her daughter is not accorded “justice.” She claims that her daughter has been affected by the issue.

She gave the board some documents that she said prove how her appeal was “ignored” by PSS.

Cuerdo claimed that PSS’ wrongful decision violated regulation 60-20-401. This pertains to altering the means of selecting the awardee after the third quarter grades are already known. In addition, she said the manner with which the criteria were changed did not conform with PSS regulation 60-20-43(d) or the Commonwealth Administrative Act.

Cuerdo told Saipan Tribune that her daughter’s case is similar to that of Fannetta Nelson, who was accorded valedictorian honors after she died. She graduated in Westinghouse High School in 1936.

“This case is just like that of Fannetta Nelson. I hope my daughter does not have to wait as long for justice as Ms. Nelson did,” said Cuerdo.

Cuerdo, in her testimony to the board, also accused some PSS officials of harassment and discrimination.