(PSS) — The new Rota Office of Pupil Transportation building was inaugurated on Friday, Aug. 23.
The facility, which is funded by the Public School System’s share of the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act funds, is located next to Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Junior Senior High School.
Cutting the ceremonial ribbon were Commissioner of Education Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho, Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Junior-Senior High School Principal Annette A. Calvo, Sinapalo Elementary School Principal Daisy H. Quitugua, Acting Rota Mayor and Municipal Council Chairman Jim Michael Atalig and Rota Office of Public Transportation bus leader Lorenzo “Larry” Hocog.
“To our Rota OPT leaders, Larry Hocog and his team, I congratulate you for this ribbon-cutting and opening,” Camacho said. “It’s on days like this when we celebrate initiatives through the opening or launching of a project or the completion of a project that we consider critical for student learning and our community’s success as a whole,” he added.
Camacho credited the strong partnership between PSS and Rota leaders, including Rota Mayor Aubry Hocog, and the island community.
“We feel good because we know that this project could lead to many great things in the years to come as a result of this particular project that we have invested in,” he said. “The completion of this is a great achievement of our Public School System. It is going to benefit all of our students because the work of our OPT is very critical to our students’ learning and success, which starts and ends in every bus ride they take….”
Camacho added, “Our children will never forget their time in the bus and the hardworking OPT personnel that continue to take care of them. It’s a great deal for me as your commissioner of education because it reassures me that the support that we have for our students is attributed to initiatives like this.”
Project Engineer Jesus Dimaala of J&J Construction said the newly completed OPT building “represents our dedication and teamwork.”
“This was built and designed to ensure the safety of our students,” Dimaala said.
Milestone
Rota OPT bus leader Lorenzo “Larry” Hocog said the new facility is a milestone for Rota schools and the community. This is the first time that a permanent facility was built to cater to the bus/transportation personnel and operation on Rota.
“It is my pleasure and an honor… to express gratitude to all those who made this event a reality. I started working as a bus driver 17 years ago, and throughout that time the OPT had been without a designated office for the Rota (operation) and its team,” Hocog said.
“Today, with the support and collaboration of the PSS management team, we achieved a milestone. (This) ribbon-cutting ceremony honors the new Rota OPT. We are finally home,” the Rota bus leader said.
Hocog thanked the following for their “huge support and commitment” that led to the construction of the new facility: Commissioner Camacho, Associate, Commissioner of Education for Administrative Services Eric Magofna, the PSS-Federal Programs Office, OPT Director Shawn Nicholas, the PSS Facilities Development and Management team, the school principals of RHI and Sinapalo Elementary School, the Rota Mayor’s Office, and the project contractor.
The new Rota OPT has an office, a staff room, a restroom, a storage room, and a garage/shelter area for the repair of PSS buses and vans.
Rota OPT has three buses that serve close to a hundred passengers; a van that transports 15 passengers; and a special education minibus equipped with two wheelchairs.
RHI Principal Annette Calvo said, “I feel very excited and very happy that there is now a permanent facility for them. They have been moving around for many years. As you heard it from our OPT bus leader Larry Hocog, they can say they’re finally home.”
History
The site of the new Rota OPT facility was the former Rota PSS Liaison Office.
Shortly after the Education Act of 1988 was enacted to create an independent Public School System, the PSS Rota Liaison Office was established to provide additional support and services to the island’s public schools.
Th Rota liaison office housed the offices for bus drivers and child nutrition program personnel. It was built next to the former Rota elementary school (the current RHI), where the newly inaugurated Office of Pupil Transportation facility is located.
On Aug. 25, 2011, the Board of Education approved the Middle School Consolidated Plan that merged Rota High School and Rota Junior High School. The merger also renamed the schools as Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Junior-Senior High School in honor of the late education chief, who was from Rota.
Commissioner of Education Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho, Acting Rota Mayor Jim Michael Atalig, Sinapalo Elementary School Principal Daisy Quitugua, Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Junior Senior High School Principal Annette Calvo, Rota PSS Office of Public Transportation bus lead Larry Hocog and contractor Jesus Dimaala celebrate the opening of the new Rota Office of Pupil Transportation facility in Songsong, Rota.
The new Rota Office of Pupil Transportation facility was inaugurated on Friday, Aug. 23. Among those who attended the event were Commissioner of Education Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho, Acting Rota Mayor Jim Michael Atalig, Sinapalo Elementary School Principal Daisy Quitugua, Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Junior Senior High School Principal Annette Calvo, Rota PSS OPT bus lead Larry Hocog, contractor Jesus Dimaala.
The exterior of the new Rota OPT facility.
Commissioner of Education Dr. Camacho and Rota school principals Annette Calvo and Daisy Quitugua inspect the new facility.
Commissioner of Education Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho confers with architectural technicians Rommel Mostales and Gemalyn Ramundo as he tours the interior of the new Rota OPT facility.
