Fitial rescinds BB promise on Compact funding

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial told officials of the Public School System yesterday that he would be rescinding the previous administration’s promise to allocate the entire $5.2 million Compact Impact funding to PSS. Instead, he would be distributing the monies to all government agencies affected by the current cash shortfall.

The Commonwealth’s chief executive announced his decision yesterday during a media briefing at the Governor’s Office, shortly after he met with PSS top brass led by Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos and PSS director of finance Richard Waldo.

Fitial said the Compact Impact fund should be distributed to government agencies also experiencing budget constraints such as the Department of Public Health, Department of Public Safety, among others.

His office has yet to determine how much each government agency would receive from the Compact Impact funding.

Inos and Waldo met with the governor supposedly to discuss the PSS proposal which the Board of Education approved last week, which seeks to combine the two-year funding proposal from the Compact monies that would enable PSS to make long overdue repairs for 20 public schools in the CNMI.

Although understandably disappointed, BOE chair Roman C. Benavente said the governor’s decision is something that PSS and the board has to respect.

“He [Fitial] is the last authority on this decision, he is the ultimate decision-maker,” said Benavente, adding that it is the governor’s prerogative to distribute the Compact Impact funds to other government agencies.

Benavente said the board would meet next Thursday to discuss options as a result of the government’s decision on how the Compact Impact funding would be allocated.

In its original plan, which assumed that it would be getting the entire $5.2 million Compact funding, PSS was supposed to undertake electrical upgrades in 20 schools as well as repair or replace old air-conditioning systems, upgrade classroom lighting, and undergo termite treatment and repairs in school buildings.

The full two-year proposal for the Compact funding was a combination of $10.3 million that should also allow PSS to address some “critical systemic” needs of the local school system.

The revised proposal also intended to fund the PSS’ interscholastic sports programs. Additional computers, laptops, and LCD projectors would also be acquired with the Compact money.

The proposal also included merit increases to CNMI public school teachers who pass the PRAXIS certification exam.