HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Acting Gov. Joshua Tenorio welcomed hundreds of preschoolers to the Adelup lawn on Friday morning to declare October as Head Start Awareness Month. But while they were there, he dropped a bombshell that impacts the entire public school system.
“I have such an exciting announcement for all of you. The superintendent of education and I just got off the phone with the secretary of education in the United States Department of Education, Secretary Miguel Cardona. He called us to tell us that, as of today, the third-party fiduciary in charge of federal funds is no longer, it has ended,” he said.
That means that the Guam Department of Education is once again in charge of managing its federal finances without big brother looking over its shoulder.
“Guam Department of Education is now in the driver’s seat and they are able to do all of their programs without the third party involved. Which means that’s more money that goes into federal programs, to go back into the school system,” the acting governor said.
GDOE was placed on high-risk status in 2003 by the federal government. Alvarez & Marsal Holding LLC was assigned as a third-party fiduciary to oversee GDOE’s management of federal grant funds in 2009.
For the last 14 years, GDOE has paid up to $3 million a year to the third-party fiduciary. That’s roughly $42 million over that period.
Tenorio took the time Friday to recognize the individuals who contributed to making the milestone happen.
“The reason that we are in this place is because of the hardworking employees of the Department of Education, and in particular, (GDOE Superintendent) Dr. (Kenneth Erik) Swanson. I know that (acting Deputy Superintendent) Frank Cooper-Nurse played a key role … proving to the U.S. Department of Education of the excellence that we know the Guam Department of Education has,” Tenorio said.
Head Start Awareness Month
Getting back to why the preschoolers were really at Adelup, Swanson emphasized the importance of the Head Start program.
“This is the first step toward graduation. Everything that we do in Head Start leads to what’s going to happen 12, 13 years from now. So I want to emphasize my gratitude for all the work that the parents and the staff do for our youngest scholars and the rest of the support that comes from the community,” Swanson said.
Hundreds of preschoolers and their parents gather Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, on the Adelup lawn to celebrate the declaration of the month of October as Head Start Awareness Month.
