THE Board of Education on Thursday unanimously approved a proposal to restore the Public School System employees’ 80-hour work period and increase the salary of those who have been employed by PSS for a year or two.
The restoration of the 80-hour work schedule takes effect on Feb. 1, 2021.
Board of Education Chairman Andrew Orsini, right, gestures as he speaks during the BOE meeting on Capital Hill Thursday.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
PSS Director of Finance Arlene Lizama said, “What has saved us up to this day is the federal Education Stabilization Funds used for payroll.”
Education Commissioner Alfred Ada said the federal ESF can be used to cover the local funding shortfall and fund PSS personnel cost.
THE BOE voting members present during the meeting on Thursday were Chairman Andrew Orsini, Vice Chairman Herman M. Atalig, Maisie B. Tenorio, Antonio Borja and Gregory P. Borja.
Also attending the meeting were the non-voting members: teacher representative Phyllis M. Ain, non-public school representative Ronald Snyder and student representative Rainalyn Reyes.
Prior to the vote on the motion to restore the 80-hour work schedule and pay raise for some PSS employees, Finance Director Lizama made a slide presentation, which indicated that a total of 713 employees — 283 instructional and 330 non-instructional — will have their 80-hour work schedule restored.
For employees whose work hours were reduced to 64 last year due to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the PSS annual personnel cost will increase to $34,763,493 from $30,492,945 once the 80-hour work schedule is restored.
For his part, Commissioner Ada told the board that despite “the rising cost of living,” some PSS employees are still receiving about $16,000 or $17,000 annually.
Some of these employees are bus drivers, he added. Some of them have resigned after finding other employers who offer higher salaries, Ada said.
In her presentation, Finance Director Lizama said those who have been working with PSS for 0 to 12 months, the annual salary is $16,100 while those who have been with PSS for one to two years are getting $20,548 a year. Those employed by PSS for over three years receive $22,654 annually, she added.
BOE Vice Chairman Atalig said, “We need to motivate these young folks and give them the pay they deserve.”
Ain, for her part, thanked the board members for approving the pay raise, saying, “It is so hard to place a value on the work of bus drivers who keep the children safe.”
BOE Chairman Orsini said in the near future, he would like to see a performance evaluation for those who will get a pay raise. “That is all I am asking,” he added.
U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan announced earlier that the CNMI would receive $74.4 million for education from the federal coronavirus relief measure enacted on Dec. 27, 2020.
Of the amount, Kilili said $61.7 million goes to the Public School System.
Ada said this will “guarantee that all of our classroom teachers and support staff will not experience a single payless payday.”
