Kilili backs relocation of two middle schools

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) is on board with the idea of relocating the Francisco M. Sablan and the Adm. Herbert G. Hopwood middle schools, in the wake of the extensive damage both schools sustained during Super Typhoon Yutu.

Speaking at a news briefing yesterday, Sablan said he has already talked with Education Commissioner Glenn Muña about moving both middle schools from their current location, which are near beaches.

Sablan is hoping a funding bill that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week would hurdle the Senate so it could be signed by President Donald J. Trump. The CNMI would get at least $100 million from that bill, and Sablan said a chunk of that amount could be used for disaster recovery efforts.

“We can do better with more money. Hopwood is a school that was built, I think, when I was still 4 years old, maybe. And it is right there by the ocean, like the Francisco M. Sablan [Middle School]. So, it is just right there near the beach,” Sablan said.

“I understand that, with [both middle schools], when a storm or the high seas come, the ocean water goes all the way to the classrooms. I really think we need to relocate both schools. We need to move them.”

There were plans a week after Yutu—by the CNMI government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency—of consolidating both middle schools or looking for another facility that’s not damaged and fixing it so that classes could be held there.

In fact, Sablan said, the first time the idea of relocating both schools was discussed during the term of former governor Benigno R. Fitial. “I think it was during my second term and it was at Hopwood where I had my public investiture when I made a comment about it. …We can use money to build a middle school between Koblerville Elementary School and Saipan Southern High School. Build a new middle school there. The governor back then agreed and then, of course, it ended there.”

He added that collaboration is needed to achieve the goal. “…I’d like to help the [PSS] commissioner in moving Hopwood and building a new one, somewhere away from where it is now, the beach. And Francisco M. Sablan [MS], because it is also so close to the ocean and it is also congested.”

Sablan said that building a middle school between KES and Saipan Southern or next to Francisco M. Sablan Middle School “is a viable solution. Then students that go to KES will just move to the [new] middle school, and then to Saipan Southern.”

“They [students] would be more comfortable with their environment where they are at. That’s my plan [relocation] and the commissioner [Muña] assured me of his cooperation. I’m happy that he is the commissioner and we could start working with him.”

He also had the chance to talk with Northern Marianas College interim president Frankie Eliptico. “He [Eliptico] also asked for my cooperation and I said yes. But that’s the last time I heard from him. I can’t help him unless he tells me what they need and their plans are.”