He said “money is scarce” and SHEFA has to depend on poker fee collections which are declining.
Cabrera, R-Saipan, together with Rep. Joseph M. Palacios attended the SHEFA board meeting which discussed high school graduates’ eligibility to receive incentive awards.
Nobody offers outright scholarship awards among the other state and territorial governments of the nation, he said.
If there’s a grant for students, the recipients will undergo a long process including making parents as co-signees, he added.
Palacios, R-Saipan, is asking the SHEFA board to explain plainly to the recipients and the parents the reduction of awards.
He said a lot of people misunderstood why SHEFA reduced the awards especially the incentives for some recipients.
Palacios said he supported the decision of SHEFA because funding is “beyond your control.”
Yesterday, the SHEFA board approved a motion to suspend incentive awards to high school graduates pursuing post-graduate education.
Earlier, the incentive program was reduced from $2,000 per semester to $1,000 for an on-island student and from $2,000 to $1,500 per semester for an off-island student.
SHEFA vice chairwoman Josephine Sablan said high school students with an 3.5 GPA who haven’t started college should not be eligible for incentive awards.
However, SHEFA board member John Tenorio said if students maintained the required GPA they can avail of the incentive in the second semester.
“We are not trying to take anything away from them,” he said.
SHEFA chairman Jose C. Mafnas said their decision was based on the situation of the program’s funding source.
He reported that 10 poker machines were not renewed last July.
As of yesterday, there were already three poker machines that had not been renewed in August, he added.
“The trend is a steady decline, and we are forced to do something,” Mafnas said.
