The student representative is a non-voting member of BOE.
“I am pleased to appoint [you] as a non-voting member of the board to represent public school students,” the governor said in a letter to Babauta.
Her appointment begins this month and does not require the advice and consent of the Senate.
“The Board of Education plays a vital role in ensuring the best education possible for our students,” Fitial said. “The lt. governor and I are confident that you will make a valuable contribution, and we appreciate your willingness to serve and provide input from a student’s point of view.”
Babauta, 16, is a junior student at Saipan Southern High School — the first time that a student representative was chosen from the school.
She is expected to attend BOE’s meeting this month and vows to bring to the board’s attention all the valid concerns of her fellow students.
To effectively carry out her mandate, Babauta said she will inform her fellow students at all public schools that they have a new representative to the board.
“I want them to come to talk to and work with…me about issues and concerns that affect learning at schools,” she told Variety.
“I know I can’t vote for anything on the board and the only thing I can do is speak on behalf of students, so I want to seek more power in terms of sharing with them our concerns,” she said.
Among these concerns is the lack of teachers, Babauta said.
At Saipan Southern High School, she added, some classes in mathematics are accommodating 40 students.
“This impacts student learning and I want to bring this to the board’s attention for an immediate resolution,” she said.
To cope with its lack of teachers, SSHS has scheduled a fifth period and is asking BOE/PSS to provide incentives to teachers who volunteer to teach students beyond the regular 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. work schedule.
Babauta has this message to her fellow students: “If we really want to solve our problems…the best thing to do is to educate ourselves because the only way we can beat our problems is to learn from it and progress. If we will keep doing the same mistakes, we will never make any changes.”
Babauta is the daughter of Franklin and Celina Babauta.
