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PSS approves 5 new classrooms for Garapan school
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Posted on Jun 26 2011
The Public School System has approved the construction of new classrooms for Garapan Elementary School and issued Friday an RFP, or request for proposal, for the long-sought project.
PSS federal programs officer Tim Thornburgh said Friday that five new classrooms would be built on the campus to accommodate all enrollees in Garapan.
For many years, GES’ kindergarten students have been holding classes in vacant MIHA housing units at the back of the school—a setup that has been criticized because of security concerns for students.
Thornburgh disclosed that the five new classrooms will be built in the second story of an existing building on campus. Once completed, upper graders occupying the first floor classrooms would be moved to the new rooms, while kindergarten students will take over the building’s first floor.
The project’s estimated cost is $800,000, which will come from two funding sources: legislative appropriation and interest income from the $15 million general obligation bond issued in 1998.
Thornburgh refused to discuss further details of the project because of the ongoing bidding process. However, he expects the new classrooms to be operational before end of the next school year.
“GES is our largest elementary school and is really crowded. We need these additional classrooms to be able to place all our kids inside the school campus,” said Thornburgh.
GES was home to 830 kindergarten to sixth grade students last school year. Its enrollment is expected to increase this new school year, which begins in August.
Saipan Tribune learned that the five new classrooms are only a part of the 20 more classrooms that PSS wants to build for kindergarten students.
Since last school year, PSS has been approved to conduct full-day kindergarten classes to address the hundreds of children on its waiting list. However, due to the lack of classrooms, only a few schools have implemented the full-day service.
According to Thornburgh, the project has been on the table for more than two years but has been delayed due to the lack of funding.
