By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

THE Guam Power Authority has apparently given the Guam Public School System another chance to pay its bills.
GPA public information officer Art Perez said the utility is not likely to cut off power to GPSS as the utility had planned to do last week.
Perez said GPA has given the public school system until March 15 to pay off its $970,000 power bill.
Last week, GPA threatened to disconnect the public school system if it did not pay off its outstanding account by March 8.
Without any payment, GPA said it would start disconnection procedures against the public school system this week, beginning with the GPSS central administration offices.
The administration was able to provide the public school system with the $6 million it promised last Friday, but this was not enough to cover the GPSS power bill.
According to GPSS Superintendent Luis Reyes, the $6 million remitted by the administration was used solely to cover the full payroll of GPSS employees because he doesn’t want to violate the law.
GPSS has been forced to issue only net pay for several pay cycles due to lack of funds and the Attorney General’s Office has warned that GPSS may be subject to a lawsuit if it does not issue the full pay of GPSS employees.
Perez said the GPA deadline has been extended to March 15 but if GPSS does not make payment by then, GPA would have no other recourse but to disconnect because the outstanding bill would have gone over the allowable time period for repayment.
According to GPA, the public school system cannot be given more slack than the utility’s other customers, despite its being a government agency.
GPSS has already discussed measures to prepare for a gradual power shutdown should GPA decide to initiate disconnection proceedings.
Among the measures is a shorter work week for GPSS administration employees to cut down on the agency’s power costs.
Should GPA decide to extend its disconnection to the classrooms, GPSS is also considering new schedules that would have students come to school earlier so they could get off before the temperature becomes too high.