Outages, lack of water shorten school day at KagES

Several surprise power outages hit the Kagman area yesterday, interrupting classes for over 700 students at Kagman Elementary School.

School principal Ignacia Demapan said the outages affected the school’s water supply, forcing her to shorten the school day and send students home sometime around noon.

A total of 767 students—the third highest in all Commonwealth elementary schools—are currently enrolled at the school.

“We have so many students and they cannot use restrooms…it’s unsanitary,” she said.

Demapan said water for the school is provided by a pump, which could not operate whenever a power outage occurs.

According to Demapan, the first outage hit at about 10:30am, lasting for about half an hour before power was restored. It was followed by another outage that lasted until about 2pm.

“The toilets were backed up because there was no water, and we were concerned on the safety and health of the students. [The] restrooms [were] not hygienic, and the kids also can’t wash their hands,” said vice principal Bobbi Merfalen.

She said the school’s maintenance department has already cleaned up the restrooms and normal classes would resume today.

Meanwhile, Demapan said she contacted the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. trouble desk to determine the status of the outage, but reportedly was told that the duration of the outage was not known.

“We did not know when the power was going to go back on, they didn’t tell me…so we had to think of that too when coming up with the decision,” she said.

Merfalen said the Public School System bus service was contacted, with buses arriving at the school between noon and 12:30pm to transport students home, and an announcement was made on a local radio station. Teachers also contacted parents via telephone informing them of the early dismissal.

“Majority of the parents were very receptive in coming right away and taking kids,” she said. “Some called to confirm the fact, and parents were just very cooperative. Most of them agreed with the decision. Some parents were concerned but these are [decisions] that we need to make. It’s about [students’] health.”

Merfalen said several students were still at the school past 2pm, but were “taken cared off.”

“We try very hard to accommodate all the kids and get on top of everything the best we could,” she said.

Meanwhile, Demapan said as long as the power does not turn off “we would be alright.”

Last May 10, the school was shut down for a day due to a similar situation.

Chacha Oceanview Junior High School, located just a few meters away from KagES, was also affected by the outages, but had water stored in a tank that was sufficient enough to last the rest of the day.

“We have a water tank that can hold between 15,000 to 20,000 gallons of water. I do not know how much we had in the tank at the time of the outage, but we knew that it would be enough for the day, so that was not a problem,” said vice principal Walter Taitingfong.

It was not known if Kagman High School was heavily affected by the outages.

Saipan Tribune contacted CUC special advisor Pamela A. Mathis’ office, but told she had already left the office.