THE administration has yet to remit over $4.7 million to the Public School System, PSS Finance Director Arlene Lizama said during a recent Board of Education meeting.
Board of Education Vice Chairman Herman Atalig, left, speaks while Chairman Andrew Orsini listens during a BOE meeting on Capital Hill Thursday.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
In related news, U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan said he has introduced three bills in the U.S. House of Representatives that would provide more federal funding to CNMI education.
On Thursday, Lizama told the BOE that the CNMI government was supposed to have transferred to PSS a total of $8 million by Jan. 27 based on the fiscal year 2021 budget or Public Law 21-35.
The FY 2021 budget appropriated $24.3 million to PSS. Of this amount, Lizama said, $1,017,894 or 11.6% had been “expended and encumbered.”
The $1,017,894 encumbrances included $653,000 for the Micronesia renewable energy project, she added.
Lizama’s slide presentation indicated that every month, the central government failed to transfer the amount due to PSS.
On Oct. 26, 2020, for example, the Department of Finance was supposed to transfer $2 million to PSS. However, Finance could only remit $500,000.
The last time Finance transferred a portion of the PSS local budget was on Dec. 31, 2020, in the amount of $500,000, Lizama said.
As of Jan. 15, 2021, of the $8 million it was supposed to remit to PSS, Finance transferred only $3,250,000. The central government was $4.75 million short.
BOE Vice Chairman Herman Atalig said the last time he heard from the Finance secretary, he was told that transfer of funds to PSS was based on government revenue collection weekly or biweekly.
He said he was assured that whichever amount was collected by the government in a particular week, PSS would get its 25%.
But Atalig said, “We also need to look at exactly how much revenue is being collected so that we can actually see for ourselves, and we need to investigate whether or not they were really providing us 25% of the revenue collected.”
BOE Chairman Andrew Orsini said, “I think it is best that we also address this funding issue with the Legislature, and see how we can work something out. The sooner the better. Maybe there are other means the Legislature can look into to help us with the situation we are facing right now.”
Asked for comment, Press Secretary Kevin Bautista said:
“The Governor and his administration have not been blind to the local budgetary needs of PSS. The Secretary of Finance met with the PSS commissioner and his Finance Team on Friday morning and discussed a payment arrangement, as well as a fiscal plan to get back on track with payments to PSS. As we all know, the CNMI joins the rest of the world in being challenged by the negative economic impact caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our revenue collections have been severely impacted by the unprecedented stop to tourism, which has severely impacted tourism destinations like us, Guam, Hawaii, and the rest of the U.S. We are still in a pandemic, which has constricted our local revenue collections and forced us to be much more reliant on federal funding that we have been aggressively applying or and lobbying for with our Congressional Office. Despite all this, the Administration is working out a payment arrangement with PSS, and the Governor and the Secretary of Finance will continue to do whatever they can to help our students, teachers, school staff, and administrators.
“The Administration is also cognizant that continuing the work of reopening our tourism industry can help us get back on the path of normalcy and replenishing our local revenue. This requires a collective effort by everyone in our community from our government to our tourism stakeholders to our community. We continue to be one of the safest places in the U.S. from Covid-19. All of our Covid-19 cases that have been identified at our border originate from the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, or Guam. With renewed interest by many people around the world wanting to visit the CNMI for tourism, coupled with the strong proactive leadership of Governor Torres and CHCC CEO Esther Muna, the CNMI can rebuild its economy and meet its essential services, including public education.”
More federal money
In his e-newsletter, U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan said, “One thing is for sure: schools will need more money from the federal government to help students make up lost instructional time and to pay teachers and staff in the middle of the continuing financial crunch that the Marianas and other state-level governments face because of the pandemic.”
He said he has “introduced a trio of bills to fill that need, along with colleagues on the Education and Labor Committee. Our Learning Recovery Act provides schools with funds to cover the cost of extending the school year, school days, or summer school to help students catch up on their learning. Our Save Education Jobs Act will deliver an estimated $50 million to pay Marianas Public School System teachers and staff in fiscal year 2021. And our Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act provides $90 million for the Marianas to invest in the physical and digital infrastructure we need to get learning back on track.”
For more information, go to https://edlabor.house.gov/media/press-releases/education-leaders-introduce-bills-to-reopen-and-rebuild-americas-schools-save-education-jobs-and-recover-lost-time-in-the-classroom
