Also pending is the appointment of Saipan Southern High School’s Francine Babauta as the student representative to the board.
Babauta will replace Tinian’s Louvelle Borja who graduated last school year.
BOE Chairwoman Lucy Blanco-Maratita said they have sent “numerous” letters to the governor regarding the appointment of a teacher representative.
“We told the governor that we need to get moving and we need these new appointments,” Blanco-Maratita said, adding that they have not received a reply from the administration.
The board, she noted, has been functioning without a teacher representative for eight months now.
“The presence of a teacher rep provides the board perspectives from the teachers’ standpoint which is important in the board’s decision-making process,” Blanco-Maratita said. “Whoever is appointed to the post serves as liaison providing the information link with our teachers.”
But she said the board acknowledges that the authority to make these appointments lies in the governor’s hand.
Bennett and former BOE Chairman Roman Benavente earlier asked the CNMI Supreme Court to clarify constitutional issues regarding the appointment of the teacher representative.
On April 1, the chief justice said Benavente and Bennett “failed to satisfy the constitutional prerequisites for certifying legal questions to the court.”
Bennett had argued that Miller, a school administrator, could not be the new teacher representative.
