“There’s no job security at MHS,” he added.
Today, he said he is expecting more teachers to join the protest.
Yesterday Yangetmai was joined by his wife, Denita, also a MHS school teacher, and other supporters.
Some motorists who passed by honked their horns and some waved their hands to show their support.
A senior citizen, Jose M. Torres, stopped by to express solidarity with Yangetmai.
“I am one of the citizens of this island and I am supporting your proposal to remove Garrison,” he told the teacher.
Another supporter, a former student of MHS who is now studying at Northern Marianas College, also stopped by to express support for Yangetmai.
Among his grievances against Garrison:
• The termination of more than 20 MHS teachers, including five Carolinians who are highly qualified teachers and one Carolinian teacher’s aide;
• Telling teachers he would release those who did not pass the Praxis test only to later change his mind; and,
• Destroying many of the trees on campus, the stage and the other school structures, and for planning to demolish Building F which has 11 classrooms to prevent more students to enroll at MHS
Also yesterday, Yangetmai appeared before the House of Representatives during its regular session and discussed his concerns with the lawmakers.
“They will look into it,” he said, referring to the House members.
Asked for comment, Garrison said he respects Yangetmai’s right to protest.
But he said Yangetmai’s statement are “erroneous, false, and misleading and…a distortion of the truth….”
He added, “I find it further troubling that Marianas Variety would print such a libelous article without checking the facts. I also find it troubling that he would shirk his responsibility to his duty at school by taking off from work without calling and simply abandoning the students under his charge on a national test day (SAT10) without his duty of care.”
The Variety printed Yangetmai’s letter to the editor on Tuesday. It remains posted on the newspaper’s online edition.
Yangetmai told Variety he was “stressed out” and thus opted not to report to work because “I could not perform my duty well.”
Garisson said Yangetmai “encouraged a student to be a truant from school simply to aid him in his quest for personal satisfaction of a grievance without ever having talked to me about it.”
“For the record,” Garrison said, “no one was fired, terminated, or given pink slips. As a school we have long since discussed the changes to the school program for next year at nearly every weekly staff meeting.”
He said the issuance of letters of intent to “reassign” that were sent to teachers on April 4 were “an indication of what the school is looking at in terms of the need for the school to reassign at least nine teachers as per the new Public School System-wide economic restructure.”
According to Garrison, “majority of teachers that were given notice were Caucasians, so I take offense to [Yangetmai’s] remarks about Carolinian bias as I think it is reprehensible that he purports himself to be a professional and chooses to incite racism in order to further his cause.”
Garrison said there is only one Carolinian affected by the “restructuring,” referring to Yangetmai’s wife.
Another’s Filipino and one is Chamorro that has Carolinian blood, he said, adding that Yangetmai might have included them or anyone with a drop of Carolinian blood “in an effort to paint a picture that suits him and his cause.”
For the program they are creating at MHS, Garrison said he is asking that all teachers achieve highly qualified status at the high school level.
“Those that are teaching at the high school who only hold elementary or middle school [highly qualified] status were given the opportunity to raise their qualifications to high school and have the chance at retaining. However, even that may not be a guarantee as when the school is restructured, anyone can be subject to being reassigned given the numbers. I think it would be inappropriate of me to keep a teacher employed simply to appease their spouse by creating an imaginary position when it is not needed,” he said.
As for Building “F,” he said it has been identified as a hazard that should be taken down.
He said the building was a temporary solution to the overcrowding back in the 1990s and has already exceeded its terminal date by nearly 10 years.
“Structurally, the building sways back and forth and up and down when people walk on it, railings are falling off, stairs are broken, numerous injuries have already occurred this year — the whole structure is made of tubular steel. If I could, I would have closed it the day I arrived. I am fortunate that due to the restructuring and better utilization of space at MHS, we will be able to not have the students placed at risk of injury next school year as we can look forward to the building either being torn down and replaced or severely renovated down to its steel structure and then reinforced with concrete.”
As for MHS enrollment, he said that “by design, he is creating what will be a school that not only has a great instructional program but one that has a physical plant that is capable of handling thousands of students. As I am certain when they finish they will want to come to a great school with great teachers…because that’s what it takes to give our students the best chance of succeeding.”
