BOE Chairwoman Lucy Blanco-Maratita, in a letter to House Floor Leader Joseph N. Camacho, R-Saipan, said the plan is in recognition of the challenges facing the special education program of the Public School System.
Among the steps that have taken by the board was the creation of the Special Education and Early Intervention Program Committee “to ensure that the program has a more focused attention toward improving special education.”
Through the committee, Blanco-Maratita said, the board has begun reviewing current challenges and working with the PSS leadership to develop solutions to these problems.
BOE’s letter was in response to Camacho’s inquiry about the lack of related-service providers for students with special needs at Tanapag Elementary School.
“Our primary issue in special education is personnel,” Blanco-Maratita said. “Primarily, PSS does acknowledge an ongoing challenge to recruit and retain special education related service providers and teachers.”
She said PSS continues to engage in recruitment activities through announcements in professional journals, attendance at recruitment fairs in the U.S., and placing vacancy announcements on the PSS Web site.
But because of the “extremely low salary offer” and the CNMI’s distant location, PSS was only able to get inquiries from potential applicants, Blanco-Maratita said.
As a remedy, she said the board is considering revising the pay differential scale to be more competitive with U.S. salaries.
These considerations include a one-time pay differential to cover relocation costs for hard-to-fill posts and a pay differential for fully certified special education teachers who have expertise in the areas of autism, deaf and hard of hearing, visual impairments and early intervention.
Blanco-Maratita said the pay differentials are similar to the differentials paid to related service personnel.
“The board is also considering an increase in pay differentials for related service professions that require post graduate degrees,” she added.
The board recently lifted the salary cap of related service providers “to allow for compensation commensurate to verified years of employment.”
Previously, PSS salaries were capped at Pay Level 6, regardless of verified years of employment.
The board also approved a pay differential for related service providers to work during off days such as Saturdays and holidays in order to provide services to students who may not have received services during the school year.
The board said this option has been implemented at Garapan Elementary last school year.
PSS, the board added, also expanded the Saturday services to other schools this school year.
To build local capacity and to keep the current special education staff, continuous and ongoing staff development is provided to school personnel and parents, Blanco-Maratita said.
Special education contact teachers and related service personnel also meet once a month to review current issues and discuss possible solutions and strategies that can be used to improve services to students with disabilities and special needs, the board chairwoman added.
