BOE chair on board meetings: We should already have laws to support virtual attendance from anywhere

06/26/2025 - Several decisions expected from the CNMI Board of Education’s meeting yesterday afternoon on Capitol Hill have been delayed due to a lack of quorum.

On the agenda included discussion on student meals for the upcoming school year, possible hiring of a professional engineer, as well as several announcements from Public School System Commissioner Lawrence Camacho, but the meeting ended before it began when the board adjourned, due to not obtaining quorum. 

The meeting was led by BOE Chair Aschumar Kodep Ogumoro-Uludong who appeared in person with the rest of it's members, except vice president Anthony Dela Cruz Barcinas, Andrew Orsini and Tenorio who attended via ZOOM; and while current members including Barcinas, and Orsini were on island, Tenorio was not on physically on the CNMI.  The topic sparked a 20 minute conversation on whether or not the meeting could be held lawfully in accordance to public law whether or not the meeting could continue and if votes will be made. 

The BOE legal counsel advised the board that although previous meetings had been held with attendees/members outside of the Commonwealth, it remained unclear whether they established quorum. Counsel Tiberius Mocanu said that under BOE regulations the board was allowed to proceed under the circumstances but it was still in question if whether not, if continued, they would be in violation of the legislative law, which had not directly stated otherwise. 

Orsini and Tenorio stated they were uncomfortable with proceeding under the current circumstances. "I believe that things that were done in the past doesn't make it right,” said Orsini. "I just want to make sure and certain that we are complying with the law and not in any way inclusively violating the law...Lets just follow the law and be careful and mindful what we do, that's all I'm asking."

Ogumoro-Uludong expressed his disappointment with the policy not being updated especially after the wake of the pandemic. "We went through a pandemic and that changed how organizations operated and communicated and to some extent also made decisions, so I'm a little surprised the board hasn't updated those regulations to reflect a more easily accessible efficient process."

Tenorio agreed with the chairman and that the policy needed to be revisited and hopefully updated; after a majority decision, the meeting ended with adjournment and plans to reschedule the next meeting.

Ogumoro-Uludong commented after the meeting, ”...This is something that we're gonna need to work with the legislature on in terms of the statute governing board meeting attendance but in this day and age, post COVID, I don't even know why this is still an issue. We should already have the laws in place to support virtual attendance from anywhere in the world."

He shared that in the agenda another critical item they were supposed decide on and vote is hiring a professional engineer. He said, "That's a critical position that needs to be filled to manage disaster projects and other projects that PSS has. We need that capacity and we don't have it." 

He added, "My only response is it's disappointing that we cannot hold this meeting to make critical decisions that you know need to be made in support of our students. That's my job and as a board member and as chair I need to now go back and work on these improving efficiencies so that we can perform our fiduciary duties and not have uncertainty clouding the actions that we need to be taking."

Report by Chrystal Marino.