19 to 20 GDOE schools may not clear sanitation inspection by next school year
As many as 19 to 20 public schools or half of the 41 Guam Department of Education campuses may not clear sanitation inspections needed to be able to open next school year, according to Wednesday’s meeting of the Guam Education Board.
This is more than the initial 14 schools expected to not have inspections on time.
Under the law, schools need to pass a sanitation inspection by the June 30 deadline for them to be allowed to open the next school year.
But lawmakers are now weighing a bill that would allow schools that wouldn’t get inspected by the June 30 deadline or that failed an inspection, to open next school year.
Though damage from last year’s Typhoon Mawar spurred the current rush to get schools in line with sanitary regulations, concerns about poor sanitary conditions at schools have been ongoing for years, plus Department of Public Health and Social Services sanitation inspectors could only inspect so much between now and June 30.
Education Superintendent Erik Swanson previously said that 14 schools out of the 41 in GDOE inventory may not be ready to pass a sanitation inspection by the start of school year 2024-2025.
But on Wednesday, he told the education board that only 21 to 22 schools are expected to clear inspections by the end of the school year, leaving 19 to 20 to miss the deadline.
Swanson previously said DPHSS can only work so fast to inspect schools, and that the expected refurbishment of seven schools may further delay inspection.
He told education board members Wednesday that by this time next year, every GDOE school is expected to be done with inspection, including those that have already passed and need to be reinspected.
19 passed inspections so far
As of Wednesday, 19 schools have passed inspection.
Oceanview Middle School and Agueda Johnston Middle School were the most recent to pass, and Swanson said Liguan Elementary School was just finishing up an inspection.
The superintendent told education board members that he has made the request to the Legislature to extend the deadline for sanitation inspection until the end of the upcoming school year.
“The response to that request has been positive,” Swanson said.
Sen. Dwayne San Nicolas and Swanson recently met to discuss Bill 317-17, which would extend the sanitation inspection deadline and allow Swanson to determine whether schools that fail an inspection can open up, anyways.
Education board member Angel Sablan, chair of the safe and healthy schools committee, asked when a public hearing would be held for the measure.
Swanson said his understanding was that senators may ask to waive the hearing for San Nicolas’ bill.
Sablan said if there is a hearing, he wanted the board to be able to testify to lawmakers, “saying, well, we’ve done everything we can and you can see the results.”
If more time is provided for the other 19 to 20 schools to be inspected, “we can assure them that they will pass,” Sablan added.
Not every member of the Legislature is supportive of extending the sanitation compliance deadline. Education oversight chairman Sen. Chris Barnett has been vocal about his opposition to the move.
FEMA on Simon Sanchez High School
In other news, Swanson told board members that GDOE is still awaiting word from the Federal Emergency Management Agency about the possibility of funding a temporary campus for Simon Sanchez High School.
Swanson said GDOE is also awaiting responses from different agencies about land use restrictions at the preferred spot for a temporary campus, on Guam Housing Corp. land across the now abandoned, old Sanchez High campus in Yigo.
GEB members resolved to have Swanson make a stopover in person at FEMA Region 9 headquarters in California, if a response from the agency is not received in about a month.
Swanson will be in San Francisco from July 22 to July 25 for a summer leadership convention.
Reach reporter Joe Taitano II at JTaitano@guampdn.com.