HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A failed Department of Public Health and Social Services inspection appears to be the reason behind a recent change to the schedule announced by the Guam Department of Education.
On Thursday, GDOE amended its school year 2023-2024 schedule to reflect that Wettengel Elementary School students would attend classes at Maria Ulloa Elementary School. The amended schedule noted that Wettengel Elementary students would follow the alternating school schedule at the host campus.
No explanation for the change was provided.
But according to a DPHSS Division of Environmental Health inspection report, Wettengel Elementary was inspected July 31 and failed.
According to the report, the elementary school received 51 demerits before health inspectors made the decision to halt the inspection.
Violations included:
• Classrooms not meeting cleanliness standards or having proper waste receptacles.
• Exits not being accessible, marked, opening outward, self-closing, clean or in good repair in a number of rooms.
• Ventilation and filters were not clean or in good repair.
• Air temperatures of occupied rooms not meeting the 75-83 degree temperature range.
• Inadequate hand-washing facilities.
• Improperly constructed restrooms.
According to the report, the numerous violations resulted in the sanitary inspection being halted.
“Although the entire school may not have been inspected by the Division of Environmental Health, it does not absolve the school from identifying and correcting violations that may exist in other areas/rooms that were not observed,” the report said.
GDOE has stated that, in the interest of time, Public Health would cease inspection of a school once 41 demerits were recorded.
Wettengel Elementary School on Jan. 25, 2023, in Dededo. A health inspection of the school was halted on July 31, 2023, after inspectors found numerous violations.
