REPRESENTATIVE Benjamin B. Seman, member of the House Committee on Education, is requesting Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos to provide his office the current status of the renovation of Marianas High School and Hopwood Junior High School’s electrical upgrade.
Public Works Secretary Juan S. Reyes earlier said that the school projects were not approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior and thus “continue to lie dormant” due to the alleged failure of the Public School System to submit the required scope of work for Hopwood’s electrical upgrade.
“Based on information provided to my office, the electrical upgrade for Hopwood has not been undertaken and no one seems to know the exact status of the project. I therefore would like to your request your office to provide me with the current status of the renovation of (MHS) and Hopwood,” Seman, R-Saipan, told Inos in a two-page letter.
Based on PSS records, the school system was allocated $397,870 of Compact-Impact funds on March 21, 2002. Out of this amount, Seman said $81,500 was specifically earmarked for Hopwood. But he claimed that since PSS did not have the scope of work for the electrical upgrade, MHS was also unable to renovate its building.
On Nov. 14, 2001, Interior informed DPW that it could not approve the MHS project because the scope of work for Hopwood was not included.
Inos was on Rota yesterday and could not be contacted for comment.
But Don Dolenec, PSS project manager for construction, explained that the school system could not just proceed with the project and come out with a final scope of work because of some structural adjustments in the school and the movement of students to the new middle school in Kagman.
“Some of the buildings (in Hopwood) might be torn down or abandoned which would dramatically change the electrical upgrade and scope of work. Also, we are waiting for Principal (David M.) Borja for the distribution of junior high school students (in the new middle school) before determining the actual use of (Hopwood),” said Dolenec in an interview.
He added that after Borja makes the decision on the matter, then the project will have a final and more accurate scope of work.
But Borja, in another interview, disagreed with Dolenec’s explanation. He said there will be no structural changes in the buildings.
“He does not need for me to tell him how many students are leaving, because the classrooms and offices will still have the same electrical hook-up. Nothing in the structure or classrooms will change. Therefore, the scope of work will still be the same. And I was not even informed that I need to advise them of that,” Borja said.
