‘Tinian transformer essential’

Tinian Junior Senior High School continues to function without a transformer, forcing some students to learn in classrooms without air conditioning and the library to sit empty.

Public School System Board of Education chair Lucy Blanco-Maratita has asked Education Commissioner Rita Sablan to set installing a new transformer one of her goals.

Without one, school could be cancelled for the year, “unless we’re going to open school under a coconut tree,” Blanco-Maratita said.

When additional classrooms and a library were added on to the school a few years ago, funds for more infrastructure to manage the additional power needs were not set aside, she said.

The school does not use the library, housing books instead in a room next to an administration office.

Money needs to be reallocated immediately, she said, so a new transformer can be bought and installed as soon as possible.

“A transformer is not something you just buy off the shelf,” she said. “It can take six to nine months.”