‘No transfer yet of lab school to PSS’

There is no final decision yet on the planned transfer of Northern Marianas College Laboratory School to the Public School System, according to NMC acting president Tony Deleon Guerrero.

“Everything is exploratory. We have not decided on that matter,” said Guerrero in an interview yesterday.

Some parents have claimed that the college recently decided to shut down the Lab School in As Terlaje and transfer it to PSS property inTanapag.

“Based on their assessment, all other schools are crowded except in Tanapag so they’re moving the Lab School to Tanapag,” said a CLS parent.

The parent, who asked not to be named, said that NMC’s plan is “just outrageous” on the grounds that Tanapag is too far and that the transfer would not stop parents anyway from paying the monthly tuition.

“Besides, why are they having problem with operations when these are more than adequately met by tuition and fees?” asked the parent, noting that CLS personnel are paid by appropriation money from the Legislature.

CLS charges $200 for a single child per month for 10 months in 1st to 8th grade level. Each additional child pays $190 a month.

As of last year, there were 15 families with more than one student attending the school.

For students K-4/K-5, the tuition is $175 a month plus $25 registration fee, $65 material fee, and a $35 cooking fee.

CLS has about four students on scholarship, which is awarded on a need basis.

There are about 70 students enrolled in CLS.

CLS rents five buildings in As Terlaje for $52,000 a year.

Meantime, Guerrero said that talks on CLS continue between all parties: CLS faculty and staff and parents, as well as PSS.

He said his team was set to meet with CLS officials yesterday afternoon. On June 3, he said his group would hold a discussion with PSS.

Guerrero said he was aware of resistance among people, including some parents, but he said that it is expected. “Whenever you introduce change, you’d get opposition but there’s nothing to worry about right now because we’re just in the exploratory stage,” he said.

He said the NMC is pursuing talks on CLS as part of the goal “to be more efficient and to save money.”

Previous NMC leadership believed that PSS has more jurisdiction over CLS, which is right now neither considered a private school nor a public school.

For its part, PSS said that NMC’s charging of tuition on CLS students is against the Constitution, which guarantees free education.

The Lab School serves as the internship or the hands-on facility for college students taking up a baccalaureate degree program in elementary education.

Recently, Deleon Guerrero said the abolition or transfer CLS would be questionable and a sure threat to the college’s accreditation with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

“Our accreditors are telling us in no uncertain terms that they see the Lab School as an essential component of the School of Education when they granted our accreditation, that they still see it as such, and that any move to change that essential structure will be questionable at best and a threat to our accreditation at worst,” said Guerrero in an earlier letter to House Education Committee chair Rep. Justo S. Quitugua.

The lawmaker had asked NMC to provide his office with updates on major issues, including its Laboratory School program, amid serious budget problems.

This also came following reports of its possible transfer to PSS or its conversion into a charter school.

Guerrero noted that following such discussions, WASC-Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges executive director Barbara Beno saw CLS as “one of the features of the NMC bachelor’s degree program that helped the college gain approval for the new degree.”

“The commission would have several concerns about quality and viability should the school move out from under the direct control of the college,” Guerrero quoted Beno as saying.

Similarly, he noted that Dr. Lily Owyang, adjunct associate director for WASC-Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities, said CLS “featured prominently in the review for eligibility” of NMC.

Guerrero told Quitugua that CLS’s removal from NMC “is one not likely to be realized any time soon,” citing its importance to the college’s mission and accreditation.

He said NMC’s mission is to provide the best quality and meaningful postsecondary and adult educational opportunities, and professional development, including the teachers-in-training for its SOE students.

CLS, he said, is an integral part of SOE’s standard-based approach to best practice teacher education.