PSS FY25 budget now over $33M
The Office of the Governor has submitted a revised fiscal year 2025 budget to the Legislature which now reflects a budget of over $33 million to the CNMI Public School System, which represents an over $5.7-million jump from the first budget submission.
Last April, the Office of the Governor submitted its initial budget for FY25 to the CNMI Legislature reflecting a breakdown of how over $158 million would be disbursed among government agencies, program, etc.
Under the initial budget submission, the Office of the Governor allocated $27,715,372 to PSS.
However, under the revised budget submitted last July, PSS saw a $5.7-million bump in its budget allocation with its new budget being $33,466,869.
According to Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, the revised budget allocation to PSS has increased by $5.75 million to $33.6 million due to extensive budget discussions with the administration, members of the CNMI State Board of Education, and PSS leadership
“Members of the CNMI State Board of Education and PSS leadership presented this funding level as sufficient to maintain the quality of education provided to thousands of students. The administration committed to support this funding request in the revised budget,” he said.
The increase of PSS’ budget, however, comes at a cost and that includes reduction in personnel costs and costs to other programs.
“The administration’s commitment to the Public School System involves a revision to the proposed budget that requires reallocating funds from the Executive Branch to PSS, further reducing personnel costs by $5.36 million and costs to other programs. Although Executive Branch personnel are funded by the general fund at approximately 60 hours, the current austerity work schedule of 70 hours will be maintained,” he said.
In a statement from Education Commissioner Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho, he said this revision in PSS’ budget will allow PSS to continue to provide uninterrupted learning opportunities to nearly 10,000 students.
“On June 24, I and our key PSS team and members of the Board of Education met with Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang as part of our continuing discussion about how we, as partners, can collectively and collaboratively work to ensure that public education services through PSS are able to fulfill their constitutional mandate of providing uninterrupted learning opportunities to our nearly 10,000 students and over 1,500 employees. Both PSS and the Palacios administration agree that this can only be accomplished if funding is available, given our financial challenges,” he said.
“I can honestly state that, since my arrival in January of this year, we have been successful in our efforts to collaborate with the leadership of Gov. Palacios and his team in bringing attention to the ongoing need for funding for our public school system. After meeting with the governor and lieutenant governor on June 24, my PSS team and I felt relieved, thankful, and reassured that our kids will continue to attend school five days a week and that our teachers and staff will continue to work and provide services that are essential to our kids’ education,” Camacho added.
Thanks to PSS’ budget revision, Camacho said the upcoming fiscal year will not see any disruptions to educational opportunities.
“As a result of our collaborative work, PSS, along with the support of BOE, and the Palacios administration, has been able to mitigate any possible negative effects that a lack of funding may have on the PSS and our learning community, specifically related to the expiration of our ARPA funding on Sept. 30,” he said.
Arnold I. Palacios
Lawrence Camacho
