For the first time, the board will publicly address ethics, governance, and member disputes amid PSS work reductions affecting thousands of students and staff.
By Emmanuel T. Erediano
emmanuel@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
The Board of Education will convene a special meeting today at 9 a.m. via Zoom to address nearly a dozen issues involving its own members— the officials who oversee policy and governance for the Public School System.
This is a rare move at a pivotal time for PSS as it prepares to implement a sweeping 64-hour work reduction and a suspension of Monday classes district-wide, beginning Nov. 17. These measures will affect nearly 9,000 elementary, middle, and high school students and approximately 1,500 teaching and non-teaching personnel across Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.
Today’s BOE special meeting notice was published on Thursday in the Marianas Variety.
This is the first time in recent memory that the BOE, as the policy-making and governing body of PSS, will publicly deliberate matters involving its own membership. Among the several significant topics include request for an internal investigation by an outside agency, the election of officers, possible ethical violations, concerns about micromanagement, adherence to the code of ethics, and employee grievances.
The Open Government Act (1 CMC § 9901 et seq.) mandates that all CNMI boards, such as the BOE, provide advance public notice of meetings and post those notices at government offices or in a newspaper of general circulation.
The 19th Board of Education includes Chairman Aschumar Kodep Ogumoro-Uludong, Vice Chairman Anthony Dela Cruz Barcinas, Secretary/Treasurer Antonio L. Borja, and members Andrew L. Orsini and Maisie B. Tenorio. Non-voting members consist of Teacher Representative Dr. Dora B. Miura and Non-Public School Representative John Blanco.
One of the most significant agenda items is the request for an internal investigation by an external agency – a first for the BOE. Details on the subject or scope of the investigation were not disclosed in the meeting notice.
Additional agenda items include three new board resolutions: election of officers, a provision to disallow micromanagement by individual board members, and a waiver of any wrongdoing by an individual member. These motions have not been previously discussed in public board meetings and represent new territory for the BOE.
Under board policy, however, the election of officers is not yet due; it is normally held annually every January. As stipulated in the CNMI Administrative Code — Title 60, Part 001, § 60-20-101, “There shall be three officers of the Board: a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, and a Secretary/Treasurer. These officers shall be elected by a majority of the voting members of the Board during the regular January meeting of each year. Each officer shall serve for a term of one year except for death, resignation, or removal.”
Other agenda points include board officer roles, committee assignments, and leadership positions, as well as Board authority in hiring and salary negotiations for PSS employees, and adherence to the Board’s code of ethics.
For the first time, the BOE has placed specific personnel items under its executive session agenda, including employee grievances dating to 2018 and 2023 and a review of Instructional Technology and Distance Education Co-Teaching practices.
Executive sessions are held privately among members, in accordance with 1 CMC § 9912, and are not open to the public.
