Previous Story
Rota’s ESFDB sees almost zero enrollment
The Eskuelan San Francisco de Borja, a Catholic school on Rota, has had nearly zero enrollments, leading to the discontinuation of the academic year.
During a recent Board of Education’s special meeting, vice chair Herman Atalig raised concerns about the untouched funds that could potentially accommodate repairs for other schools on Rota that were caused by Super Typhoon Yutu.
Should Rota get approved to move the funds from ESFDB to repair other schools, a total of $24,249 will be transferred. Tim Thornburgh, Federal Program manager, confirmed the school’s closure and assured that they will work with his program officer to “see how much flexibility they will give.”
Under the Project Restart program, they approved $24,249 to go into ESFDB for repair and replacements but, with the school’s closure, it seems unlikely that they will be doing any repairs.
Tinian board member Phillip Mendiola-Long also asked Thornburgh about the remaining balance of $376,390 in school repairs that haven’t been touched as well.
According to Thornburgh, an assessment has to be done on what needs to be repaired in a school in order to be approved. However, the damage has to be the result of Super Typhoon Yutu.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency obligated 29 of 39 Public School System projects last June 3, but PSS has been unable to start work on these projects as it does not have the funds to cover the 10% cost share.
Mendiola-Long urged PSS to have someone from the Facilities Development Management assist the schools on Tinian because there are still damage from Super Typhoon Yutu that need to be fixed.
