The Public School System recently eyed its northernmost property for a possible school but \u201cnothing is immediate right now,\u201d according to CNMI State Board of Education chair Herman Guerrero, who said PSS is still viewing its options.<\/p>\n
Guerrero said he initially thought the area, about 44,485 square meters, had too many slopes, but in a recent visit with Education Commissioner Dr. Rita Sablan, he has reconsidered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it would make an excellent campus,\u201d Guerrero said an interview yesterday. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to require major earth-moving\u2026but at the recommendation of the CIP coordinator we need to do a topography study to have a better understanding what it really is going look like,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sablan, in her report to the board last week, said she hoped the property could be reviewed in the near future to see what PSS could do to expand its schools in the north side of Saipan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a nice fit for about 300 to 400 students,\u201d she told the board.<\/p>\n
Besides topography, Guerrero said PSS has other factors to look at.<\/p>\n
He cited the demographic shift of population and students to the \u201ccentral\u201d part of the island near Marianas High School, which reportedly has an all-time high enrollment this year of 1,500-plus students, as something to look at.<\/p>\n
He said PSS does not have properties in the central area of the island, and so if a new high school were built, they would have to figure out if they\u2019d need to \u201crezone\u201d populations to move students north.<\/p>\n
He also said future homesteads could call for the need of a school in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to have a conversation with Public Lands if they\u2019re going to have any plans in the near future to expand any homesteads up in that area, because if you do, you will certainly have families building houses over there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said timelines and requirements to build these homesteads would also have to be factored in. <\/p>\n
It is because of these factors that there is \u201cnothing immediate right now.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are checking what our options are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Northern High School\u201d if constructed could accommodate 296 students from Tanapag Middle School, according to the PSS CIP office.<\/p>\n
The property is 44,485 square meters and is located at the corner of Matansa Drive and Suito Drive in As Matuis, directly past the La Fiesta Mall.<\/p>\n
It is similar in scale to Dandan Middle School, which is 49,444 square meters; Oleai Elementary School and Oleai Headstart, which are 42, 120 square meters; and William S. Reyes Elementary School and CK Headstart, which are 43,040 square meters.<\/p>\n
The site has reportedly not been cleared yet, according to a PSS CIP report earlier this year. The report described the site as \u201cmore than likely steep and mountainous\u201d due to the elevation of a nearby road and the terrain in the As Matuis area.<\/p>\n
It also said a \u201csubstantial amount of costly land cutting and backfilling\u201d would be needed to achieve proper elevation for a school.<\/p>\n
According to a PSS enrollment report, there are over 700 northern school students, from Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School, Tanapag Middle School, Kagman High mSchool, and Tanapag Head Start.<\/p>\n
A large amount of this number comes from GTC, at a reported 300 students. Yesterday, Guerrero said GTC\u2019s safety issues being close to the water and the fact that its playground is on private property are other factors to be considered in building a new school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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