Sanchez students sound off

As the procurement protest dispute over the rebuild of Simon Sanchez High School continues, students, faculty, and staff are left waiting in the middle — yearning for a permanent home and a sense of normalcy. 

Longstanding grievances surrounding the need for a new high school were front and center during Thursday’s education town hall meeting at john f. Kennedy high school. Generations of Sharks expressing just how heavy the weight of enduring double-sessions, displacement, and an abnormal high school experience is. 

“It is difficult to feel connected to a school identity that only exists in the late afternoon shadows of a borrowed campus. We are essentially ghosts in a system that expects us to perform at our peak while providing us with the bare minimum of stability," said a sophomore from the Class of 2028. "You ask us for our best, yet you leave us drifting between villages and arriving home by the time dinner starts.”

A former Sanchez student who is a now a high school teacher added, “15 years of conversations, plans, meetings, and nothing to show for it. A blueprint on a paper, public hearings that end in action-less words. 15 years of students waiting for a campus they deserve.”

And while students graciously acknowledged the efforts to gain forward movement on the rebuild of the school, many not losing sight of how long-awaited the project has been. “I have no doubt that this is a joint effort between numerous agencies, that you are similarly just as passionate about the rebuild as we are, and that this is no easy feat by any means, but let me remind you that a new campus was promised when I started high school, let me remind you that a new campus has been promised since my sister and cousin were in high school, and they are 2016 graduates," said a student. 

In the meantime, the Shark community speaking to a panel of all but two education officials, as Guam Department of Education leadership was glaringly absent from the town hall meeting. 

Oversight chair on education, Senator Vince Borja, noting he’s heard of plans to end double session, though no one from GDOE's management team was present to distinguish rumor from fact.  “Really, since the new administration or new team has taken over, and I’m not just saying this because she isn’t here — we’re left in the dark in the dark as well right now," said the senator.

Meanwhile, GDOE responding to its absence at the meeting, issuing in part, the following statement: “On February 19, 2026, late in the afternoon, the GDOE management team was convened for a critical meeting with our legal counsel and the chief auditor. The matter required our immediate and full attention as it directly impacted ongoing school refurbishment projects and central air conditioning contracts.”

Guam DOE further stating, “Given the urgency and potential contractual and compliance implications of the issues discussed, the meeting extended until approximately 7:25pm. As a result, members of the management team were unable to attend the town hall, which was scheduled for 6pm.”