265. We Shall All Bow Down

We shall now all bow down in homage to the great King Fitial. Anyone who defies his wishes shall be banished from the kingdom. We shall follow his lead, whereever he shall take us. He is our King, and may he declare emergencies, issue proclamations, and assume the rightful command of all lesser agencies, departments, and beings, for lo, he is most powerful.

Governor Fitial, an elected official, asked the Board of Education, elected officials, to postpone the start of classes from September 8, because of the problems the government/CUC is having with providing electrical power.

The BOE, after due consideration and input from teachers and concerned citizens, decided to open schools as scheduled. They had already postponed the start of school by ONE MONTH because of the increased costs in power.

And our Governor, who is not one to respect other elected officials, looked for any way he could to
SHUT DOWN OUR SCHOOLS!

Ah, yes, the reason--excuse given: The Division of Environmental Quality tested the water a while ago and found e coli. That could be a basis for closing schools. Never mind that each of the schools already addressed the problem by cleaning their water tanks. Never mind that some of the schools replaced the bad water FROM CUC (yes, the same operation that can't provide reliable electricity to the schools, businesses, and residences in the CNMI) with CLEAN water from a private vendor. Never mind that the water in the tanks is either reserve water in case of emergency, or used simply for the toilets.

And never mind that DEQ had not yet returned to test the water, a situation over which PSS has no control, so we don't know whether there is any on-going problem.

King, I mean Governor Fitial issued an urgent order on the night before schools opened shutting down 3 schools and 1 head start.

You can read reports at the Marianas Variety or Saipan Tribune. They show our new Commissioner and the BOE scrambling to handle the situation as professionally as possible, with the students' interests in mind.

The Governor's action, in stark contrast to the BOE and PSS, is disgusting. I'm very glad my daughter is not attending MHS (but is rather at SSHS). I'd be tempted to sue.

Tina Sablan has it right when she characterizes the Governor's actions as blatant and outrageous abuses of power. But what worries me more is the comment made in response to the MV article--that PSS better watch out. The Governor might issue an emergency directive and take over it, too!

121. Back To School - Supplies Project

Each year my office sponsors a back-to-school project where we collect donations from local attorneys and spend the money on school supplies, which we give to the children of our poor clients and other needy families. And each year, I end up with too many pencils, not enough book bags, and at least one child who stresses out!

This year, we started late because I was on vacation. And school started so early--August 3! But we've collected $750 plus in-kind contributions from donor attorneys, assembled 36 bags, and distributed most of them so far. Today, one woman arrived at the speed of lightning after receiving the telephone call that we had school supplies for her 4 children, and she had tears streaming down her face as she practically danced out of the office with the box. Another just kept saying thanks over and over again.

Saipan is depressed economically, but there are still generous people out there helping make this project a success, and still good manners and gratitude that make us smile. And there will be at least some kids who have a little reason to go to school and try harder--if just to sharpen those new pencils, uncap the highlighters, or play with the zippers on the book bags.

108. Sad and Angry

This TribuneStory makes me so sad and mad.

Sad that Doreen Tudela abused her position. Sad that she forgot how important it is to keep personal and professional separated. Sad that our kids, who deserve the best, had a principal who made a big mistake. I'm glad she's paid back what she took, and admitted what she did. I don't doubt that she's used her own money for school things a lot and never kept track, but that isn't an excuse, either. It's just a shame, and it will be hard on the students who must now process that their principal, whom they respected and relied upon, has let them down.

But I'm also mad at the underlying story. That Barney's Pizza pays to put pizza into the schools. We already have an obesity and diabetes problem in the CNMI. We don't need our kids eating junk food like greasy pizza. And Barney's paying to feed it to them is a double corruption.

I'm disgusted.