The Northern Marianas Trades Institute doesn\u2019t want to get sued so it moved ahead with its reopening last Jan. 4, instead of reopening in February, as was suggested by Gov. Ralph DLG Torres.<\/p>\n
Speaking at NMTI\u2019s board meeting at their facility in Lower Base last Jan. 7, NMTI chair John Oliver Gonzales said that NMTI classes that were abruptly suspended last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic need to be finished. Resuming those suspended classes will allow NMTI to sidestep any potential legal liability of students potentially suing the school and its administration, he said.<\/p>\n
NMTI\u2019s situation, he said, is unlike that of the Northern Marianas College and the Public School System. \u201cAs an educational institution, we are different. We must open our doors, because…we have commitments and liabilities that we must fulfill and complete,\u201d said Gonzales. <\/p>\n
Gonzales told Saipan Tribune that if NMTI took the advice to open up at a later time, this will leave a window for students to sue the administration for depriving them of an education and\/or getting a certificate that can help them get a better salary.<\/p>\n
NMTI chief executive officer Agnes McPhetres echoed Gonzales, saying that when students register with NMTI, it is a contract between the students and NMTI.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, the contract between the Public School System and us [NMTI] to train their individuals in the electrical [field]. We did not finish [the class but] they already paid us. So that’s a liability,\u201d said McPhetres, adding that the NMTI board wants to clear up any liability\/debt before transitioning to the board of trustees that will be the governing board of NMTI when it transitions into the Northern Marianas Technical Institute. Right now, NMTI is considered a non-government institution; it will become a government agency when it becomes a technical institute.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur board of directors wants to clean that up, so that we can say, we have fulfilled all of our obligations, therefore you have a clean slate. \u2026So we went ahead and opened the school,\u201d said McPhetres.<\/p>\n
Torres earlier advised NMTI to resume classes in February so that the current nonprofit board of directors have a window to \u201cdispose of any and all liability and debt\u201d for the upcoming board of trustees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the board of trustees assume their governance authority under the new public government technical institute, they [will] start with a clean slate, zero debts, zero liability, and so in upholding our fiduciary trust and responsibility, we must dispose of current liabilities and the debt,\u201d said Gonzales.<\/p>\n
According to McPhetres because NMTI hasn\u2019t transitioned to a government board and is currently a private board, the board of directors can make their decision based on what\u2019s best for the institute, which is another reason why they went ahead and opened their doors last Jan. 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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