Commissioner of Education Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho appears before the House Ways and Means Committee during a budget hearing in the House chamber on Tuesday.
PUBLIC School System officials on Tuesday appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee, which conducted a hearing on the $33.6 million budget for fiscal year 2025 submitted by the Palacios administration for PSS.
Commissioner of Education Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho said PSS is working on the implementation of a “system-wide strategic planning process” that will address the issues and concerns raised by some lawmakers and members of the public during the hearing.
These include the lack of Chamorro-Carolinian Language and Heritage Studies or CCLHS teachers, a “disparity” in the salaries of PSS central office and school personnel, “frequent travels,” the use of allowances and the absence of parental engagement in schools.
These issues were “inherited” by Camacho, who assumed office on Jan. 10, 2024.
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios earlier proposed a $27.8 million budget for PSS. In his revised budget submission, Palacios increased PSS’ budget to $33.6 million.
The CNMI Constitution mandates that PSS “shall be guaranteed an annual budget of not less than twenty-five percent of the general revenues of the Commonwealth through an annual appropriation.”
In his original submission on April 1, 2024, the governor said the Department of Finance had identified $158.6 million in budgetary resources, 3% lower than last fiscal year. The amount available for government appropriation was $111.4 million.
Bilingual teachers
Several members of the public took turns in questioning PSS’ lack of bilingual teachers in the classrooms. They demanded accountability and equity.
Rep. Marissa Flores echoed their concerns.
Camacho said he is now working with his management team to “revisit” the CCLHS curriculum and further improve it.
“Teaching the Chamorro language [is] part [of] our class[es], but maybe not … the Carolinian language. We are better when we have more Carolinian teachers because it helps us in the preservation of our culture,” he said, adding that they are “looking at ways” to hire more Carolinian language teachers.
Post-ARPA
Camacho noted that the current fiscal year, 2024, is the final year of ARPA funding for PSS.
He said ARPA funds stabilized PSS’ financial condition during the past three years and prevented the furlough of employees and work-hour cuts.
“In terms of ARPA funds, majority of those went to pay for personnel,” Flores said. “How many personnel at [the PSS] central office were awarded [salary] raises or incentives using those funds?” she asked.
“Those things happened before my time,” Camacho said. He referred the question to PSS Human Resources Director Lucretia Deleon Guerrero, who said: “Under ARPA nothing is allowable for any adjustments.”
Flores said she will ask PSS to provide a “full documentation” of its pay scale since it received ARPA funds.
‘Frequent travels’
She also noted the “frequent travels of the same PSS personnel.” She did not mention any names.
“It seems that a lot of your expenses are on travel,” Flores said. “I keep seeing … people traveling over and over again. I am not sure how this works, but in terms of providing the best outcome for students, it would be beneficial if there is a process to that,” she said.
“Is there an oversight process in terms of who gets to travel and who doesn’t get to travel?” she asked.
“No, there’s no good oversight on travels right now,” Camacho said. “We have a system in place, but what I told our team … is that we could do better. [We have to be] held accountable for that,” he added.
Flores recommended that PSS update its travel policy. She hopes that in the new fiscal year, PSS will implement a “stringent” travel policy with oversight.
PSS Federal Programs Officer Jacqueline Che said there is an existing multi-tiered review system on travel that includes the PSS Finance and Budget Office, the Board of Education and the Office of the Commissioner of Education.
Flores asked if all travels of employees under federal programs are mandated.
Che replied, “Some are mandated, some are not.” She said each PSS program allocates a budget for off-island travel.
Flores said she has received, in person and through emails, all kinds of complaints about PSS.
“I am not here to [attack you], but I have been approached because of concerns regarding wasteful spending by [PSS] central office personnel,” she added.
“This came from a private citizen — specifically mentioning wasteful spending by the … management in the central office in terms of salaries and travel,” Flores said. “Please help clarify how they justify every department director [making] a [salary] upwards [of] $85,000 to $100,000.”
Human Resources Officer Deleon Guerrero said there are 16 directors and their salaries are based on their credentials. She said these directors have undergone an extensive review and evaluation process, and must meet certain requirements.
Flores asked why teachers are paid less than central office personnel. She said directors don’t teach and yet they receive more than school teachers and staff.
Deleon Guerrero replied: “We are all educators of the Public School System. So as needed, we [directors] do go out and support the schools.”
“But we all know that the frontline really in PSS are our teachers in the classrooms,” Flores said.
“Yes,” Deleon Guerrero said.
Rest assured
Commissioner Camacho reiterated that he is taking the lead in addressing the concerns raised by lawmakers and the public.
“Rest assured that we are looking at our staffing patterns. I say it’s about right scaling, and rightsizing is the intent of it,” he said.
He also said that with the end of ARPA funds, PSS is exploring ways to cut cost.
This effort, he said, has resulted in identifying up to $4 million worth of cost-cutting measures and “sacrifices” across the school system for the upcoming fiscal year.
“Although we came out with this amount of potential cost savings, we make sure that it will not be to the [detriment] of our core mission for teaching and learning,” he said.
He expressed appreciation for the administration’s commitment and the lawmakers’ support.
“I am confident and I trust [that] you will support and prioritize the vitality of public education, especially now in this post-ARPA reality that we find ourselves in,” Camacho added.
