By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

THE Guam Public School System may not just be on the verge of losing its power; it may lose its telephone and Internet services, too.
Gov. Felix P. Camacho yesterday announced that GPSS owes GTA $300,000 in overdue bills.
If the public school system is unable to pay by next week, it faces disconnection by GTA.
The threat is real as GTA is now a private company and it has shown no qualms about disconnecting GovGuam agencies when their balances are overdue.
Even the governor’s office was disconnected by GTA a couple of times last year.
According to GPSS Superintendent Luis Reyes, GPSS pays an average of $95,000 a month to GTA.
To avoid disconnection, GPSS needs to cough up at least one month’s payment by next week.
The public school system already faces the threat of a power disconnection by the Guam Power Authority.
Disconnection proceedings should have already started but GPA agreed to give GPSS until this Thursday to pay off at least its January bill, which amounts to some $800,000.
In discussing the plight of the public school system yesterday, the governor said GPSS should do its share in helping GovGuam get through its financial difficulties.
Camacho said the administration cannot afford to devote all its resources to the public school system and that GPSS should itself try to cut expenses and trim its budget.
When the governor was away, Reyes and other GPSS officials met with acting Gov. Michael Cruz and discussed measures to come up with a realistic solution to GPSS’s financial challenges.
At the meeting, GPSS officials announced that they are now making budget cuts and adjustments.
They spoke with Cruz about the cost containment measures that GPSS is taking to hold the line on spending, adding that they will not hire additional personnel and will use savings to pay some outstanding vendor debts, including payroll vendors.
They said the savings generated will allow them to pay GPSS payables and stay within its $172 million appropriation.
One of the proposed measures is to make use of federal grants to pay for GPSS cellular phone bills.
Camacho is also encouraging the Legislature to revisit the way money is given to GPSS “without any checks and balances.”
He urged the Legislature to include possible changes to the current budget to include more accountability in the way the GPSS spends its funds.