HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A measure that would give schools more flexibility on sanitation violations that are already being corrected, among other things, advanced during an emergency legislative session Wednesday.
The school system is in crisis as the Guam Department of Education works to recover after Typhoon Mawar and get campuses in shape to pass sanitation inspections by the start of the school year Aug. 23. Schools were put on an accelerated track to comply with sanitation regulations back in April through Public Law 37-4.
Though the measure allows schools to get a variance, or exemption, for sanitary violations GDOE is already working to correct, variances can’t be issued if a school fails its inspection entirely, according to officials from the Department of Public Health and Social Services.
Speaker Therese Terlaje’s Bill 156-37 would strike the section on sanitation variances from the new law allowing Public Health to issue variances that could keep schools from failing inspections and being shut down.
GDOE Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Joe Sanchez on Tuesday told lawmakers that should Bill 156 become law GDOE would be able to get the majority of its schools reopened, with the exception of six that need long-term fixes to their sewage systems and restrooms.
Timelines for reopening will vary, and not all schools would reopen entirely, however, as portions of some campuses would have to be shut down.
Double sessions will still be required, and GDOE Superintendent Kenneth Swanson stated that “this is going to be a tough first semester at least.”
Francine Salas, the acting chief environmental health officer at Public Health, stressed to lawmakers that a variance is not a free pass on a sanitation violation and that each instance will have to be considered separately.
Bill 156 would also allow the department to hire retired health inspectors to keep up with the backlog of school inspections and for inspectors from other agencies, including the Department of Public Works and the Guam Fire Department, to be detailed to Public Health to assist with school inspections.
According to Salas, the pool of potential hires is limited.
The bill would also let GDOE conduct “small purchases,” which don’t have to be bid out competitively, for supplies or services worth up to $250,000 through the first half of fiscal year 2024. The regular cap on small purchases is $25,000.
Bill 156 moved to the voting file without objection.
Also moving forward without objection were Bill 91-37, which would let GDOE hire retired facilities and maintenance personnel, and Bill 149-37, which would help expedite the spending of federal money held by GDOE.
