Public Schools in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas are due to start the academic year today despite continued power outages.
A Public Schools System Commissioner, Rita Sablan , said maintenance workers were finishing the installation of generators and water pumps at each school to over come the power problems.
In August, the Governor asked the Board of Education chair to consider pushing back the start of school for two weeks, or until the island had reliable power.
But last week, the board decided to start school as scheduled.
Ms Sablan said they wanted to avoid cancelling classes because of the costs involved.
She said ensuring student welfare was important, especially sanitation issues.
Without power, bathrooms do not receive the water needed to flush toilets.
