Rep. Justo S. Quitugua, D-Saipan and the author of P.L. 15-33, said it was signed by Gov. Benigno R. Fitial on Sept. 29, 2006.
Its funding source was the interest earned from the 2000 $60 million bond administered by the Commonwealth Development Authority.
Quitugua said he was surprised to learn that GES had not yet built new classrooms for its kindergarten students.
“At that time, GES was given notice by MIHA, which said that the school was allowed only a specific period of time to occupy the housing units. So what we did, we found the money to address that problem…that’s the intent of the public law,” he told Variety yesterday.
Quitugua wants to know if the Public School System carried out the intent of the public law, which named the education commissioner as the expenditure authority.
“It’s been two years and the problem has not been addressed,” he said. “All along, I thought that they were already in the process of constructing the additional classrooms.”
If the money has not been used by PSS, he said it should still be with CDA.
“I am disappointed that the school will be open again for another year with the same problem with its kindergarten students when it should have been already addressed through that public law,” Quitugua said.
Variety learned yesterday that the money was allotted by PSS for the construction of additional classrooms. PSS, however, cannot say where these classrooms are located.
In an e-mail interview, GES principal Yvonne Reyes said: “The money is there — it’s been there for a while. But it seemed to have been lost during the transition and then the design phase and planning got postponed due to the more pressing infrastructure needs” of PSS.
She added, “We are trying to agree on the design that will allow for the most appropriate use of our existing space. We’d like to get as many classrooms as we can without sacrificing safety and proper design requirements for all our students and staff.”
She said it’s not likely that the new classrooms will be built this school year “because it would mean having to temporarily relocate existing classes and we are already having to deal with larger class sizes for the upper grades.”
According to Reyes, “It was always our intention to bring our classrooms located in the MIHA housing back to the main campus.”
