The school also has a “serious problem” with its leaking roofs.
Acting vice principal Eric M. Magofna yesterday said KagHS has only 24 teachers for over 900 students. Last year, it had 32 teachers.
The school had 762 students last year, but expects to accommodate the over 270 promoted by Chacha Oceanview and Hopwood Junior High School.
“We’re trying to recruit at least four more English teachers because we only have two English teachers at present and we’re very hopeful that we can be able to hire them before the opening of classes,” Magofna told Variety.
Like other secondary school principals, Magofna believes that hiring specialized teachers will be a challenge.
To get a degree on a specific content area or subject, a teacher must obtain it from a college or university outside the CNMI, he added.
KagHS’ student to teacher ratio has been high in the previous years, reaching 33 to 1 in the last school year.
“We’re anticipating to have the same ratio or even higher this year,” Magofna said.
KagHS has 37 classrooms and a new building for the Business Leaders of the CNMI, which is for the vocational classes.
“We have enough rooms this school year because of the new facility which we have been using since last year. We’re not going to hold some classes in the cafeteria or in our library,” Magofna said.
According to the acting vice principal, 60 percent of their classrooms have leaking roofs.
The government’s office for capital improvements project has fixed some of the classrooms and is now waiting for more funding to repair the rest of the buildings, Magofna said.
In preparation for the power outages this school year, the school is planning to use a bio-diesel generator for its emergency power supply.
