Скачать или смотреть PSS warns of school mergers, reduction of instructional days, staff furloughs if budget dips to $31M

The CNMI Public School System may face reduced instructional days, staff furloughs, and even school mergers as soon as Oct. 1, 2025, if lawmakers approve only $31.7 million of its requested $49-million budget, according to education officials during a recent town hall.

Commissioner of Education Dr. Lawrence Camacho told parents, teachers, and students during the CNMI PSS “Let’s Talk Budget” Town Hall Meeting-Northern Cluster last Sept. 2 that PSS needs at least $40 million to maintain core programs.

Anything less, he said, would reverse recent gains in student achievement and compromise the quality of education for more than 8,000 students across 20 schools and 10 Head Start centers.

“If we don't get the necessary resources that we need, in my world, it's the budget that I have to function with, that we have to function with, we're going to see ourselves taking a step back. And that's the one thing that we're trying to protect across the system is the quality that we currently have right now,” said Camacho.

If PSS receives only $31.7 million, Camacho and acting PSS Finance director Jonathan Aguon outlined a slate of austerity measures.