GES makes do with only $5K a quarter

The Garapan Elementary School, considered one of the CNMI’s largest elementary schools, has a meager budget allocation of only $5,000 per quarter.

According to GES principal Yvonne Gomez, $4,000 of the allocated fund goes to the school’s security service needs, forcing them to make do with the remaining $1,000 to meet basic operational costs.

She said they allocate most of their budget to security is because the school had fallen prey to burglars and thieves before.

The school has 870 enrolled students, the highest among all 20 public schools in the CNMI.

Gomez said the budget given to her school is not realistic, citing an instance yesterday when they had to scramble for funds to buy toilet papers for the school’s bathrooms.

GES, she said, has been hobbled with the same budget for the past several years. When she first arrived at GES in 200,2 it already had the same budget.

The principal said nine classrooms and a maintenance room are currently in dire need of repairs and renovation.

“The classrooms are falling apart,” she said, adding that the buildings at the schools are old and rewiring is also needed for most of the classrooms.

Gomez said due to the rewiring problems, the school could not get its technology room up and running.

She said most of the school’s technology projects are federally funded and she hopes GES would someday convert at least one classroom into a high-tech classroom for the students.

“But the condition of the rooms cannot support the requirements,” she said. “It’s a sad state for all the schools.”

Gomez said she understands that the new governor has an economic agenda for the CNMI but she felt sad upon learning that the government will take away the promised Compact Impact funding.

“I held my breath. I hope that he’d remember that we’ve been neglected for so long,” said Gomez.

She said the schools are the foundation of businesses too, referring to the reported agenda of the new administration in boosting the Commonwealth’s business and economic sector.

“We need the governor to back us all up. We need to survive and he should be the greatest advocate for education,” Gomez said. “If you want to build the economy, build education too because this is the future for business leaders.”

She added, though, that perhaps the government has plans that have not been shared with the schools yet.