With one of the island's oldest high schools still uninhabitable, several firms hoping to build a new home of the Islanders took a tour of the existing facility this morning. Led by the Department of Public Works and the school's task force, the engineers, architects and planners saw with their own eyes, the work that lies ahead and experienced the conditions of the Upper Tumon campus first hand. The existing John F. Kennedy High School hasn't been occupied since last school year when the Attorney General and the GPSS Health and Safety Task Force shut it down. Since then, students have had to attend double sessions at George Washington. For months, the JFK Exit Task Force has been working to put out a Request For Proposal to rebuild the campus on the exact location.
Today, six different contracting companies walked through the campus to get a better feel of the location and facility. JFK Task Force member and Computer System Analyst Eunice Aflague says they've provided input on crafting the RFP. She says she's glad more contractors are expressing interest in helping to build her school.
"What the exit task force did is that we gave them the scope of work to maintain the function of JFK and its population," said Aflague. "We were so worried with the number of applicants that were going to come because the economy is so bad, but even six-it's a positive sign."
Aflague says the chosen contractor will design the facility. The Task Force's plan is to replace the main building and keep the GCC classrooms, the band room, the ROTC room and the existing fields since most of these facilities can still be utilized. Aflague says it's important for contractors to tour the existing campus so they have a better feel of how they can build a school that can last another 50 years. Meanwhile, Aflague says they're moving along quickly in order to get the JFK students out of double session. "It's really functioning there. Our athletic program is suffering because kids have to find places to practice. The late hour shift forces the kids to practice in the morning, which causes the parents to either sign leave or take off to drop or pick up their kids. It's a time when most of them are working,:" she stated.
Although the initial exit strategy plan for JFK was to retrofit Chief Brodie Memorial School and use the annex, Superintendent Dr. Nerissa Bretania-Shafer says there are new ideas on the table. "There are several proposals that have been provided to us. So those are under consideration right now. But at this point, I'm not at liberty to discuss what those are because it's still in a formative stage," the superintendent noted.
Bretania Shafer says the retrofitting of Chief Brodie could cost $1-4 million, an amount GPSS currently doesn't have.
