by Michele Catahay, KUAM NewsWednesday, May 07, 2008 Subscribe to Michele's newsfeed
The Guam Public School System has already spent close to $5 million from the bond money to fix and purchase equipment for the schools - that makes 25% of what was given to them for capitol improvement projects. Agency spokesperson Gerry Cruz broke down what the money was used on, telling KUAM News, "Right now for the year to date, we've spent about $1.2 million for reclassification pay and increments for our employees. "$3 million we had in outstanding payments for prior year obligations, $92,000 for fire extinguishers and other associated safety equipment and systems, $386,000 for CIP projects, we're talking about breaking walls and fixing general structures of the schools, really." He added, "Air conditioning replacement - that's just $25,000, and that's the end of the quarter. We anticipate that it'll rise a lot higher. Add to that $125,000 for maintenance and repair, and already you're looking at $4.8 million dollars; and we have $93,000 already for other CIP projects."Cruz says the biggest ticket item would have to be the cost to fix A/C units in the schools. Meanwhile, GPSS is still waiting on the Attorney General's Office to sign the contract for the A&E firm. Cruz says once the contract is signed, more money will be used to take care of structural issues.