Ada retains Education Board’s top post

Members of the Board of Education unanimously voted to retain its leadership this year under the chairmanship of Marylou S. Ada during a meeting on Thursday at the Susupe office.

Ada, along with vice chair Tanya King and secretary-treasurer Galvin Deleon Guerrero, received the overwhelming support of their colleagues and Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan.

This year marks Ada’s second term as board chair; she succeeded Lucy Blanco Maratita in 2010.

Assignments for committee chairmanships will be announced later.

Ada told Saipan Tribune that she looks forward to 2012 as a better year for the Public School System. She said her leadership will continue to “provide the sense of positive reinforcement to move along with the courses that we’ve been doing.”

Ada said the board will be more vigilant this year and more transparent and accountable, in a bid to ramp up student achievements in schools. Despite the expected challenges in 2012, she remains optimistic that PSS will still be able to deliver.

PSS has over 10,000 students from kindergarten to 12th grade in 19 public schools on three islands this school year.

Board member Herman T. Guerrero expects 2012 to be a “rough year” for the school system due to the limited financial support from the local government. PSS has two funding sources: appropriation from the Legislature and grants from federal agencies. This fiscal year, PSS was allocated only $30 million by the local government. Of that amount, $28 million will be used to pay for personnel’s salary, leaving only $2 million for operations.

Guerrero, who has been the board’s fiscal and budget committee chair for many years now, believes that with the government’s financial situation, the appropriated amount for PSS may continue to drop until the end of the fiscal year in September. He said a “clear picture” of the government’s true financial state may help PSS better plan for the coming months.

“We need to figure out how to survive between now and the coming months. We need to know the real numbers so we can look at the areas that we can cut,” he told Saipan Tribune.

Guerrero said the PSS financial team is tasked to make a comprehensive budget analysis that will indicate scenarios and options for the board to take.