Yangetmai couple files grievance vs Garrison

At the recommendation of the House Educational Committee, James Yangetmai and his wife Denita filed a grievance with the Office of the Education Commissioner yesterday, demanding the immediate ouster of Marianas High School principal Craig Garrison.

In a four-page letter to Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan, the couple enumerated several wrongdoings that Garrison allegedly committed, including assault and public humiliation, abuse of power, damaging school property, defamation, and threats to job security, among others.

In her Wednesday testimony to the House education committee, Sablan said that no action was taken on Yangetmai’s allegations because he had not filed a formal complaint with her office.

When asked for comment, Garrison said it’s about time that Yangetmai follow the rules and processes of PSS. He declined to comment on the specific allegations.

James Yangetmai admitted to being hesitant about filing the grievance because several allegations do not directly involve him or his wife.

“Although I had been advised to file a grievance on these allegations, I was really reluctant to do so as many of the allegations do not directly affect me personally, but rather are concerns of my fellow colleagues who are afraid of speaking up because they do not want to lose their jobs,” said Yangetmai.

He claimed that many of the affected persons are now fearful after experiencing alleged retaliatory actions for participating in a four-day protest in April. He said these MHS employees were demoted to substitute teachers.

“I am sure more fear will be instilled in many of them when they will find out that I have been removed from Marianas High School,” said Yangetmai.

In his grievance complaint, Yangetmai cited 15 allegations against Garrison, of which he said only four directly involves himself and his wife. These include alleged assault and public humiliation when Garrison accused him of allowing his students to chew betel nut in the classroom.

He also alleged that Garrison abused his power when he demoted Yangetmai to substitute teacher after the protest and reassigned his wife to another school. Yangetmai alleged that he was also “released” from MHS on June 17 without a 90-day notice.

The principal was also accused of removing Yangetmai’s personal items from his cabinet and of alleging that Yangetmai had misused funds of the MHS Future Business Leaders of America Club.

Yangetmai also included in his grievance “complaints” of other teachers who had testified against Garrison at the previous House committee hearing.

“We strongly believe that Garrison’s removal of highly qualified teachers from MHS is another clear example of his abuse of his discretionary power. Knowing that teachers lack the protection that all civil service employees of the government have here in the Marianas, he decided to abuse his authority to release these teachers without any justifiable causes,” said Yangetmai.

Garrison was also accused of using vulgar and foul languages in the presence of staff and students, demanding that English be the only language of communication on campus, donning military fatigues to instill fear, removal of landmark water tanks, and cutting down trees on campus.