By Trina A. San Agustin
Variety News Staff

SENATOR Ben Pangelinan, D-Barrigada, yesterday asked Gov. Felix P. Camacho to transfer Compact-Impact funds to the Guam Public School System to help prevent vendors from suspending services to schools as a result of GPSS’s failure to pay them.
Pangelinan said the Compact-Impact funds will “resolve the education department’s problem affecting the health and safety of Guam students.”
Pangelinan previously wrote to U.S. Department of the Interior’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs David Cohen for the release of $2 million in Compact-Impact funds for GPSS.
Cohen’s response, according to Pangelinan, was that the request “is a suitable application of this funding,” and that in order to pursue this proposal, the senator should “consult” with Gov. Felix P. Camacho because his endorsement is required to allocate Compact-Impact funding.
Pangelinan said Cohen’s statement showed that the governor “contends that Compact-Impact assistance grants have already been exhausted for crucial improvements to the public school system and the health and safety of students.”
“The administration has said the hospital does not need over $4.2 million and requested a reduction in this amount appropriated to the Guam Memorial Hospital. If they feel that the hospital can do without this money, then perhaps we can now transfer the Compact-Impact money to an agency that’s beyond critical,” Pangelinan said.
He said “GPSS needs the money to repair and replace air conditioners and make essential structural repairs that require immediate attention for the health and safety of students”
“I am hopeful that the governor will be receptive to this latest proposal, considering what was already acknowledged by his representatives,” he added.
The governor’s office has not returned Variety’s call for comments on Pangelinan’s statement.
4,000 furlough notices
Education Superintendent Luis Reyes told Variety that close to 4,000 classified and unclassified employees at GPSS will receive general furlough notices — with their paychecks — possibly today.
In an emergency meeting Wednesday night, the Guam Education Policy Board made the decision to issue the general furlough notices.
“We are simply telling the employees that we are required by law to give a 30-day notice,” said GEPB chairman Peter Alexcis Ada. “It does not mean that it is a final action we are going to take. We still have to come back, and should that be the route at the end, we still have to vote to approve it or disapprove it. But if we do not issue the notices, and approve it, we cannot implement the furloughs.”
Ada said the decision to issue the notices was consistent with policies of other Government of Guam line agencies.
“We are required by law to assure that when worse comes to worst, we have already informed the employees of the possibility of a furlough. Should it come to that point, it simply means that the superintendent (Reyes) has to recommend to the board to approve or disapprove of the furloughs,” Ada added.
The education board and GPSS are looking at other ways to save the school system money and those options include volunteer furloughs and a shortened work week.
“Whatever we decide, we will interfere with classes for the students,” Ada said.
He wants to make it clear to the public and GPSS employees that none of these options — furloughs included — have been enacted.
Ada said the board wants to reiterate the “original conversation” they had a while back with lawmakers and the administration that the school system should receive their full allotment for fiscal year 2007 of $172 million.
Reyes told Variety that the board passed a resolution Wednesday night stating that if the school system does receive their full allotment, then there will be no need for furloughs.
According to an estimate by Reyes, GPSS was budgeted $173 million for operations alone. The operations portion of the budget includes payroll, utility bills, vendor payments, and other things necessary to keep the school system fully operational.
“The amount of money we received is unknown…But I think it is about $166 million. We are still tracking the money we received,” Reyes added.
If the superintendent’s tracking of cash received from the administration is correct, then this means GPSS has about $7 million remaining in cash allotments for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.
Meanwhile, Ada told Variety that the board considered the $33 million for capital improvement, which was slated to go towards implementing Public Law 28-45, or the Every Child is Entitled to an Adequate Education Act.
“The 33 million for capital improvement was originally put in with the governor’s bond and it is pretty clear that we are not going to get that,” Ada added. “We need to tell them (lawmakers) that. We want to adhere to the Adequate Education Act which is effective on Oct. 1, 2007. Whether we are going to make it or not, I don’t know. If we don’t get that money we are not going to be able to fulfill it.”