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BOE decides to build one high school, junior high
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Posted on Jun 21 1999
The Board of Education decided against the proposal to build two new high schools on Saipan and favored the original plan to construct a junior high school and a new high school.
In a special meeting called last Friday, board members carried the motion to develop a junior high school in Kagman III, near the site where the elementary school is being constructed.
For the new high school, the Board favored the location near the Governor’s Office up at Capitol Hill. However, the site is not one of the lot properties assigned to the Public School System.
The Board will seek permission from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to build the new high school on Capitol Hill.
According to PSS Architect Christopher Fryling, PSS may need 15 hectares for the new high school on Saipan. This will accommodate gymnasium and track and field.
Together with the construction of both new schools on Saipan, the PSS will also upgrade the present facilities at Hopwood Junior High School and Marianas High School.
Likewise, existing rooms at MHS will be evaluated if they can accommodate the transfer of PSS Central Office from the Nauru Building. An annual rental savings of $200,000 will be realized by the transfer.
The PSS officials are expecting to have extra rooms at MHS since its current student population of 1,800 will be reduced with the new high school by year 2000. However, Fryling said a number of its rooms are also due for demolition.
Earlier, the PSS CIP Committee has pushed for the construction of two new high schools on Saipan. The proposal argued that both schools will share the same planning and design which will not only reduced the cost but speed up the design phase.
In addition, to upgrade MHS will mean additional cost and wasted resources. It will require the demolition and replacement of buildings G, H, J and some parts of T.
Even with the construction of the MHS gym, its campus does not have room for tennis courts, track and field, and soccer matches.
