He asked the new education commissioner, Rita A. Sablan, to “take a pro-active involvement” with private schools.
“I hope to see the new commissioner freely and comfortably visiting us,” Norman told Sablan during last week’s special board meeting she attended.
Norman said he expects Sablan to “see that what’s happening at private schools is the right thing.”
In previous school years, private schools accommodated some 2,500 students compared to the over 11,000 enrolled at public schools.
Board member Galvin Deleon Guerrero, the principal of the church-owned Mount Carmel School, also expects the new education commissioner to show “pro-active leadership, pro-active management for an effective” Public School System.
BOE Chairwoman Lucy Blanco-Maratita, for her part, wants to see “a transformation of Tinian schools” under Sablan’s leadership.
She said students on Rota and Tinian should not be “left behind” by their Saipan counterparts in terms of rights and privileges.
“I would like to see an equal opportunity for all children in all schools,” said Blanco-Maratita, who is from Tinian.
The board’s vice chairman, Herman T. Guerrero, told Sablan that major decisions “should be reported to the board. All polices and regulations that are in place should be adhered to and policy changes need our approval.”
Rota’s board member Tanya King wants to see a “quality school system” under the new education commissioner.
BOE member Marylou S. Ada said she expects the new commissioner to work collaboratively with the board’s CIP committee, which Ada heads, to make sure that important school projects are completed as scheduled.
