by Ronna Sweeney, KUAM NewsSaturday, May 17, 2008 Subscribe to Ronna's newsfeed
The dispute over makeup days for the other schools that were shut down within the Guam Public School System is ongoing. The Guam Federation of Teachers union contends teachers from the Maria Ulloa and Ordot-Chalan Pago elementary schools should be paid more for working extra days. GPSS maintains that these are not missed days, but rather makeup days lost when the schools were shut down last month.GPSS legal counsel Fred Nishihara said, "We're not asking them to work any extra days. The union is trying to say that teachers need to work extra days. They're really makeup days, by contracting them to work 180 instructional days that's about 900 hours per school year. So long as they fulfill the contract, we'll give them their full salary. If we work them more than that, of course we'll give them extra pay."Nishihara says GPSS is prepared should the federation decide to pursue litigation. In the meantime GFT president Matt Rector hasn't made a decision to sue yet, saying he's still getting clarification on the makeup day plans.