BOARD of Education Chairman Herman T. Guerrero supports the governor’s proposal to extend the compulsory age for kindergarten students, but he is concerned about its possible adverse impact on the Public School System’s limited finances and physical resources such as classrooms.
“In truth, we don’t have sufficient classrooms to accommodate all the kindergarten students so we have double sessions—one in the morning and one in the afternoon,” Guerrero said. “It’s also on a first come, first serve basis. We cannot accommodate all the kids,” he added.
“(Gov. Juan N. Babauta) certainly would like to extend the compulsory age (for kindergarten students), but if that is the case we need to start planning also for additional classrooms,” Guerrero said.
Until the government comes up with concrete solutions to address classroom shortage and additional expenses, public schools would continue to limit the number of kindergarten students they admit every year, Guerrero said.
Under the administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2003, all children in the CNMI aged five to six will be required to attend kindergarten classes.
“Although the Public School System is now providing kindergarten (classes) for some 600 students, there is no legal requirement either for this service or for five-year-olds to attend,” according to the budget bill submitted by the administration to the Legislature.
“Beginning with the 2003-04 school-year, under the Governor’s Education Initiative, kindergarten will be required for (five-year-old children)…. Funds in the FY 2003 budget are projected to cover the cost of kindergarten teacher salaries for the first two months of the 2003-04 school-year,” it added.
The amount earmarked for kindergarten in FY 2003 is $187,752.
According to the administration, funds for the construction of additional classrooms for kindergartens will be “requested to be appropriated from new or residual (capital improvement project) grants and will be included in the forthcoming CIP budget.”
