HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Mold mitigation at the island’s 41 public schools has been held up in procurement for the last two months, and with classrooms opening their doors to students today, Sen. Chris Barnett said he is among parents “alarmed” and “disappointed” by the situation.
Barnett, the oversight chair for the education committee, told The Guam Daily Post he has been fielding calls from parents of public school students since the emergency session and passage of two bills that allow Guam Department of Education schools to open Aug. 23.
“There’s so many questions, just the turn of events in the emergency session,” Barnett told the Post. “I have just been overwhelmed with a lot of concerns. Parents’ concerns that we haven’t conducted mold mitigation, concerns that their kids are going into schools that haven’t yet been inspected or haven’t passed (Department of Public Health and Social Services) inspection. And we don’t know really know what kind of situation our kids are going into on Wednesday.”
He shared their concerns not only as a senator, but as a public school parent with three children preparing to head back into the classroom.
“The oldest one is double sessioning up at Okkodo (High School) with (F.B. Leon Guerrero Middle School), but the superintendent shared in the committee of the whole with us that Okkodo was one of several schools that was a privately held lease-back school that was so overwhelmed with mold that it would not be able to open on Aug. 23,” Barnett said. “And then after he testified under oath here at the committee of the whole, GDOE released that Okkodo was going to be used to host double session with Okkodo and FBLG students. So I am alarmed. I am very disappointed at this change of direction that the superintendent is heading in.”
Superintendent Kenneth Swanson and the Guam Education Board are named defendants in a lawsuit filed by two parents of GDOE students with special needs who allege that their children’s schools failed to meet the Adequate Education Act as a result of the health and safety conditions.
“The Guam Department of Education – the superintendent specifically – is being sued for violations to the Adequate Public Education Act, and is also being sued for one student’s family claims (of) irreparable harm caused by mold,” Barnett said. “So these issues, to me, are not issues that we put on the back burner.”
Questions on truancy policy
With health and safety concerns at the forefront, the Post asked GDOE officials if they would grant leniency and not enforce the truancy policy when a school has either failed a sanitary inspection or has not been inspected.
The truancy policy was suspended by the governor during the COVID-19 pandemic amid parents’ health and safety concerns. That’s not an option this time, according to the governor’s office.
“The governor has no legal authority to suspend the truancy law application. She was able to do that during COVID because of specific powers in the (Public Health Emergency) statute. The truancy policy is set by statute and the enforcement is the responsibility of the superintendent,” said Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the governor’s communications director.
The same question was posed to Barnett, who noted that parents don’t have enough information about the conditions of schools to make an informed decision.
“GDOE should publicly notify school stakeholders about violations that led to failure and other mitigated and unmitigated risks at campuses that have either failed or not been inspected yet,” Barnett said. “If areas of schools are closed off or inaccessible to students because of dangers or risks, then we deserve to know what those dangers and risks are. If we don’t know the potential risks, Public Health violations or hazards at a school, we can’t make an informed decision about whether or not we want to send our students to schools that aren’t meeting Public Health safety and sanitation guidelines.”
‘Case-by-case basis’
GDOE interim spokesperson Michelle Franquez told the Post on Monday that the department understands parents’ concerns.
“GDOE understands … and empathizes with them,” Franquez said. “School administrators will work with parents on a case-by-case basis.”
Mold mitigation is still in procurement, but school teams are continuing to “actively address” the matter, she added.
“Schools were provided funds to purchase supplies and materials for mold remediation and continue to ensure that classrooms and areas are clean for opening for the school year,” Franquez said.
Sen. Chris Barnett is shown during a legislative session Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, at the Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña.