I AM writing in response to the articles written by Moneth on May 7-8, on the comments made by Board of Education member Herman T. Guerrero and all the accusations and lambasting of the commissioner of education and myself, the Board of Education chairman. I would like tp set the record straight.
First and foremost, the bylaws of the Board of Education give the chairman with the duties to appoint individual BOE members to committees and to designate the individual member as chairperson thereof.
It is unfortunate that Mr. Guerrero claims himself as the acting chairman of the fiscal personnel and administration committee without my appointment of acknowledgement of the full board.
There has been no request for delegation of authority from the fiscal personnel and administration committee chair to the BOE chairman for approval of his claim as the acting chair.
In the absence of the FPA committee chair and without a delegation of authority request, the chairman of the board will take control of the committee functions on a day to day basis until such time that the committee chair returns to office.
Although the commissioner of education and other Board of Education members truly know that the position of the chairman of the board is to assure for the Public School System, the entire children of the CNMI, and the people of the CNMI, that a well operating practice is implemented and the interest of the community is protected; all the accusations and unwarranted comments about the commissioner of education and myself are uncalled for.
In the past, I’ve been very quiet and very patient. But I must now speak out. Mr. Guerrero has constantly criticized me in the media but there is a belief within myself that the work of a chairman is to assure good working relationship, equity among board members, and harmony in decision-making. I personally know that Mr. Guerrero really wanted to be the chairman of Board of Education but to no avail. His constant public accusation and attack of the commissioner and me, may make him think that he is manipulating the Board of Education and the Public School System, but in fact he is hurting the stability of the Board of Education and the Public School System and essentially by undermining the system, he hurts those he was elected to serve and protect, the children of the CNMI.
I would like to remind Mr. Guerrero that he must follow the Board of Education protocols and its by-aws. It is unfortunate that he forgets that to be a good leader its takes an individual to prove himself/herself of how good a leader he/she is and can be. For the past four years my fellow BOE members voted me to be the chairman of the Board. So I challenge Mr. Guerrero to ask himself why he could not garner the support of our fellow BOE members for him to be the leader of the pack. I just want Mr. Guerrero to understand that this board is a working board and this board works positively for the best interests of the children of the CNMI; and that we have to throw away our personal feelings and come to an understanding during decision making of any interest that relates to the process and progress of the function of PSS.

ROMAN C. BENAVENTE
Chairman Board of Education