Camacho: PSS prioritizes safety for students, staff

After several recent drug-related arrests on Saipan unveiled guns in the hands of either an unregistered gun owner or guns with missing serial numbers, the Public School System said they’ve heightened their awareness and preparedness to protect students, especially as they enter another school year.

In light of these events, and last year’s school shooting threats, Saipan Tribune met with Education Commissioner Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho and PSS associate commissioner for Administrative Services Eric Magofna last Friday at the PSS Office on Capitol Hill to discuss several of the safety measurements being taken by PSS.

Camacho told Saipan Tribune that along with preparing campuses and bus transportation for this school year, their team has been monitoring the levels of crime and seeking out advice and necessary precautions to ensure safety of students, staff, and faculty.

“We’ve had a great relationship with [the Department of Public Safety and Department of Fire and Emergency Management Services] and we’ve been communicating and collaborating with them in building our Emergency Operation Plan, so that we are all in understanding… so that if some crisis should occur each of us as agencies know our task and purpose at any given time,” he said

Just this week, Camacho said PSS collaborated with the CNMI Office of Homeland Security and other agencies like the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., DPS, and DFEMS to formulate scenarios for an active shooter exercise.

At the end of this month, he said the aforementioned agencies will have their tabletop/final planning phase and then hopefully on September, they can consolidate during the Konfitma as the drills will occur in one of PSS’ campuses.

Camacho assured community members that the safety of both the students and staff are their priority.

“We are really serious when it comes to keeping our campuses safe, despite the increasing crime. Even DPS is committed to reinstalling SRO (school resource) officers. In the meantime, we spoke to DPS and they said that they will be having more patrols as a sense of deterrence in all of our campuses. So that partnership is very valuable,” he said.

He added that PSS seeks to provide that safe space for their students and staff.

“At any given day we have our kids in our hands at least from Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm or 7am to 5pm, and we understand that the majority of the CNMI’s youth is in our campuses so we have to do everything we can to keep them safe…We care for and we love our kids, we know them by heart, and we are watching their growth…It may seem like they’re just coming and going but those teachers really do care about our kids, our students.”

Camacho also gave a big shoutout to PSS teachers, staff, faculty, and those who have been dedicated in providing not only a safe space, but also a great educational experience for children and young adults in the CNMI.

“The folks there, the teachers, the staff they have this heart to really care for the kids as if they are their own. That’s the standard. That’s our standard.”