FEMA chief tours Hopwood ruins; vows help for speedy reconstruction

Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell was on Saipan last Monday and saw in person the state of disrepair and damage caused by Super Typhoon Yutu to Hopwood Middle School, the largest middle school in the CNMI.

The visit of the FEMA administrator comes as the U.S. Department of Education approved last Friday the request of the Public School System, through the Federal Programs Office, to reprogram a portion of its American Rescue Plan Act grant money for the procurement of modular and portable prefabricated classrooms for Hopwood Middle School.

Accompanied by a team of FEMA delegation, Criswell flew in from the nation’s capital and met with acting Education commissioner Donna M. Flores, who, along with Hopwood Middle School principal Victorino Borja, among others, toured the condemned school buildings.

It has been six years since the extremely powerful typhoon devastated Saipan and caused severe damage to the school’s infrastructure. Six of the nine buildings were totally destroyed. These school buildings have been cordoned off to the public since 2018.

During her walkabout with Flores in the ruins of the sprawling campus, Criswell vowed to help expedite the reconstruction and repair of the school campus.

Flores took the visit as an opportunity to plead for Hopwood’s case.

“There are a lot of memories here. Most of the graduates here, being one of the oldest schools in the CNMI, are now parents and stakeholders of our community, and their children are also attending school here,” Flores told FEMA Criswell. “Now that you are here, we hope that we will finally see the realization of a new Hopwood Middle School campus. It gives us reassurance.”

Criswell acknowledged Flores’ plea. “You had me pushing now [for the expeditious reconstruction],” Criswell told Flores. “This is really, really a beautiful property [that needs immediate support].”

Saipan was part of Criswell’s regional visit to all FEMA-funded projects. She flew in from the nation’s capital to Saipan on Monday. She and her FEMA team flew to Guam yesterday for a separate inspection-visit before flying to Maui, Hawaii for a post-wildfire inspection.

Criswell is the highest-ranking Biden administration official to visit Saipan in recent years. She was appointed by Biden in 2021.

During their tour, Flores told Criswell of the keen interest of the U.S. Department of Education in the school’s reconstruction, mentioning the September 2023 visit of the department’s senior risk consultant, Christine Jackson, who flew in to inspect the campus and “pledged to bring to the attention” of Secretary Miguel Cardona the progress of the rebuilding work.

Criswell held a private pull aside talk with Flores before wrapping her walkabout at Hopwood Middle School.

USDOE approval

The U.S. Department of Education approved last Friday PSS’ use of its ARPA share to fund 20 modular classrooms that will ease and decongest the crowding of Hopwood Middle School. Flores shared this good news with Criswell last Monday.

In 2020, FEMA announced that it had awarded $25.112 million for the repairs and replacement of buildings for Hopwood Middle School due to the damage sustained from Super Typhoon Yutu.

Of the $25.112 million for PSS, a portion was set aside for modular classrooms. However, unforeseen factors delayed the procurement of the prefabricated modular classrooms.

In 2020, PSS acted quickly and sought the use of its ARPA money for the modular classrooms. Then-PSS Federal Programs officer Tim Thornburgh made the initial effort to seek the USDOE’s approval.

Hopwood Middle School at that time was temporarily relocated to the FEMA-built temporary classrooms at the Koblerville Elementary School soccer field. It transitioned back to its old campus in the same year after 19 classrooms were renovated. The Koblerville temporary tent classrooms were closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, Thornburgh’s successor, Jacqueline Che, pressed on and followed up on the request for a waiver for the use of the ARPA money for modular classrooms.

“Thank you for your request to procure modular, portable prefabricated classroom for Hopwood Middle School. The request is approved,” said Iztali Ortiz, the U.S. Department of Education’s Program Officer for the ARP-Outlying Areas in an email notification to Che.

“Now that the PSS-ARP grant will be funding the modulars, the full amount [of $25.1 million] will go toward the repairs and building construction,” Che explained.

Flores said PSS is now working with various local and federal agencies, including the Office of the Governor’s Public Assistance Office and FEMA in permitting work as they schedule the demolition of all six condemned buildings in Hopwood, to pave the way for the construction of modular classrooms.

The demolition work is scheduled this month. (PSS)