Bennett and Sablan were the applicants for the position.
On Saturday, the Board of Education unanimously approved the selection of Sablan after more than four hours of deliberation in an executive session.
Bennett, in a statement to the media, said he supports the new commissioner.
“I know expectations are high for her and the system and I wish her and all the stakeholders in the system the very best,” Bennett said.
The challenges facing the system are immense, he added, but he is hopeful that stakeholders will fully support the new chief executive officer of PSS.
“She can’t do it alone and it is clear PSS must move on and move forward,” Bennett said, adding that he will continue to be an activist who seeks improvements in the education system.
Sablan, who will waive her retirement benefits so she can go back to government service, was chosen based on the “depth of her knowledge and experience in education,” according to BOE Chairwoman Lucy Blanco Maratita.
She said the board also lauded Sablan’s acknowledgment of the importance of using data when making decisions.
Sablan had over 20 years of educational experience, the board stated — she has been a classroom teacher, a school principal, a program manager, and associate education commissioner before he retired in 2005.
It was BOE member Marylou S. Ada who nominated Sablan and this was seconded by another member, Galvin Deleon Guerrero.
The motion was then approved by the five elected board members.
The new commissioner will get a four-year employment contract subject to annual evaluation. Her salary will be $70,000 a year.
Sablan sued the previous board for selecting David Borja, by a 3-2 vote, as education commissioner in 2006.
The two BOE members who wanted to hire Sablan were Blanco-Maratita and board vice chairman Herman T. Guerrero. The three BOE members who chose Borja are no longer on the board.
Board legal counsel Karen Klaver said Sablan’s lawsuit will be dropped — a decision that the new education commissioner made even before she was hired by BOE.
“Before I went to apply and be interviewed, I consulted my legal counsel and thought about dropping the lawsuit because (it contradicted) my intention to lead PSS,” she said.
According to Sablan, she was very pleased with BOE’s decision.
“I am humbled by their decision and the process that they followed to select the next commissioner,” Sablan told Variety. “I have informed the board that I am really motivated to help the Public School System and I have passion for education.”
Under the law, only retired classroom teachers who wish to go back to teaching positions can “double dip” — collecting their paychecks while receiving their retirement pensions.
Sablan said she will waive her retirement benefits so she can be paid by PSS.
She believes that the two pressing issues that need immediate attention are the school system’s financial shortfall and the critical delivery of quality instruction or complying with the highly qualified teacher requirement.
