Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan, Public School System human resource officer Charlie Kenty, and Marianas High School principal Craig Garrison snubbed Friday\u2019s public hearing called by the House Committee on Education that was looking into issues surrounding the oldest public high school in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
Committee chair Rep. Raymond Palacios (Cov-Saipan) expressed disappointment on the \u201cno show\u201d of key people who were expected to shed light on allegations brought to the House committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very disappointed that even the commissioner and the HR officer are not here [despite the panel\u2019s invitation]. We were not provided any reason at all except for Mr. Garrison who mentioned about a graduation rehearsal at his school,\u201d Palacios told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
The two-hour hearing was attended by 24 people in the gallery and received testimonies from seven people, majority of whom are MHS classroom teachers.<\/p>\n
Palacios, after hearing the emotional appeals of those who testified against Garrison\u2019s leadership style and character, admitted that he was \u201ctouched\u201d by the individual stories and at the same time \u201calarmed\u201d on the possible impact it could have on students and PSS in general.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing I observed today: they were very emotional as they were telling their stories. Just by showing their emotions, maybe their allegations are true. So my plan is to provide all members these testimonies and evidence they presented and we will schedule a meeting next week and we will take it from there. But definitely, we will be recommending something to the Board of Education. However, whatever these recommendations are\u2026it will all depend on what the committee will decide,\u201d said Palacios, reiterating the panel\u2019s position not to micromanage MHS or PSS.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hope is they [PSS and BOE] will do something about this problem because if this will continue, students will be mostly affected,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
[B]\u2018Arrogant, disrespectful, threat to students\u2019[\/B]<\/p>\n
All individuals who provided oral and written testimonials during Friday\u2019s hearing described Garrison as arrogant, disrespectful, and a big threat to students of MHS.<\/p>\n
James Yangetmai, who started all the allegations against Garrison and who staged a four-day protest in April, was also the first to address the committee members\u2014repeating all claims against Garrison\u2019s character and management practices including \u201cfiring\u201d MHS\u2019 long-time educators. <\/p>\n
Yangetmai, in his almost hour-long testimony, even presented evidence of Garrison\u2019s arrogance and disrespect to teachers including recorded videos and conversations with affected individuals.<\/p>\n
The disgruntled teacher also accused Garrison of \u201clying\u201d about the real figures of employees who were fired and reassigned. <\/p>\n
He claimed that MHS currently has a \u201cclimate of fear and retaliation\u201d as a result of Garrison\u2019s threats. \u201cThey have fear of losing their jobs and this is the same reason why they opted not to show [up] today in this hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
After reading his multiple-page \u201ctestimony,\u201d Yangetmai said the commissioner of education failed to intervene and resolve the problems at MHS.<\/p>\n
However, Yangetmai admitted that he hasn\u2019t filed any formal grievance against the principal when asked by House member Rep. Frank Dela Cruz (R-Saipan) during the inquiry.<\/p>\n
MHS teacher William Rosenburg, who has been at the institution for several years, claimed that Garrison is using \u201ctoo much power\u201d and made decisions that were not based on proper procedures, and operates without decent restraints.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019If you pissed me off, I am going to fire you!\u2019 This is a strong statement made by Mr. Garrison. He\u2019s using and was given too much power and authority. He made his decisions that are not based on procedures,\u201d Rosenburg told the panel, saying that the \u201cgrievance policy\u201d of BOE has several exemptions which are personnel issues.<\/p>\n
Chemistry teacher Kurt Bohman, for his part, shared how he was affected by the hostile working environment at MHS. He cited several occasions when he witnessed the principal uttering \u201cimproper words\u201d to teachers and employees. Bohman only joined the MHS faculty this school year and was hired from off-island.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t explain every occurrence of Mr. Garrison\u2019s behavior that he personally affected me but I can explain how I feel. I feel bad every day. I hang my head down low when I go to school. I feel completely useless, disconnected, and unappreciated\u2026If PSS or the commissioner would have done more to stop this issue from getting this far, we wouldn\u2019t be here right now,\u201d he said, asking the committee to help solve the situation.<\/p>\n
Bohman admitted that he was relieved when he got his letter of reassignment \u201cbecause I could get away from Mr. Garrison.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert Peate, a teacher assigned at MHS\u2019 alternative education program, was also emotional when he shared his frustrations about the principal, which he claimed was the reason for the delay in the implementation of the program that aims to help students from dropping out of school. <\/p>\n
Peate provided to the committee exchanges of emails with the principal indicating the grave abuse of \u201cwords\u201d used against the commissioner and other persons. He likened the MHS situation to that of the conflict between South Korea and North Korea. Peate claimed that Garrison disobeyed, in many occasions, the wishes and instruction of commissioner Sablan for the alternative program. Peate confirmed that he\u2019s leaving MHS and that he can\u2019t tolerate the abuses he sees everyday.<\/p>\n
Special education teacher Melissa Duffy was also emotional when she appealed to the panel for help.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt MHS, it\u2019s ego first\u2026not students first,\u201d she said, adding that she witnessed how Garrison\u2019s \u201cbehavior and arrogance\u201d are affecting students. She said the principal not only yells, but also threatened some students.<\/p>\n
During the hearing, Rep. Frank Dela Cruz admitted that the panel will pursue the investigation against the MHS administrator.<\/p>\n
[B]\u2018Character issue\u2019[\/B]<\/p>\n
For Lumi Bermudes, former vice principal at MHS for four years and now assigned in the Chamorro Carolinian Language Heritage Studies program, said present problems at MHS have something to do with \u201ccharacter issue and how the principal approaches\u201d people.<\/p>\n
Bermudes, who admitted being a friend of Garrison, said she cannot tolerate the decisions made by the administrator against some employees whom she described as trustworthy, reliable, and dependable.<\/p>\n
She told the story of two support staffers who were accused of stealing school-owned scrap metal and were forced to resign from their positions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find it disturbing because I have worked for many years with these staff. I made my own investigation and I found out myself that these individuals were permitted to get the scrap metal but were later forced to admit that they stole it\u2026\u201d she said, adding that despite Garrison\u2019s \u201cfindings\u201d that they stole the materials, PSS failed to establish proof that only led to their transfer to another school and not dismissal from service.<\/p>\n
A resident from Koblerville also appeared before the panel and asked it to seriously look into the situation at MHS.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been watching him since he was at SSHS\u2026I am concerned because I have children who go to the school. I know he has talent, but I believe Mr. Garrison is not fit to become a principal,\u201d added the resident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan, Public School System human resource officer Charlie Kenty, and Marianas High School principal Craig Garrison snubbed Friday\u2019s public hearing called by the House Committee on Education that was looking into issues surrounding the oldest public high school in the CNMI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152501\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}