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Report Card: Oceanview Middle School

by Krystal Paco

Guam - In this week's Report Card we take you to the Home of the Knights, where students spoke with KUAM News about learning conditions at the Agat campus.

"Our gym, it took them eleven years to finally start; they told us that it's going to be done in March, and they've pushed back dates quite a lot," explained 8th grader Zachary Biacan. He's simply tired of waiting, as seven months have passed since the Oceanview Middle School gym groundbreaking and he's yet to use the newly renovated facility. Before renovations were made, delays in procurement kept the $800,000 bond project from moving forward for years.

Classmate grader Fantaysha Rioja has also lost her patience. From what she's observed, the island's leaders work at a snail's pace, especially when it comes to repairing broken air conditioning units. "It takes them so long to approve things and sometimes students need to concentrate to learn; you can't expect a student to go to class sweating. It takes them a while to come and fix it," she said.

The Agat campus is one of the oldest schools on island dating back to 1959, and many classrooms remain with wooden frames and tin roofing. Biacan says many of his teachers use tape to cover leaks in ceilings and exposed piping. Teachers also resort to using air fresheners to mask the smell of mold. Biacan is sad to report the school's newest building has been condemned for years, saying, "We have one condemned building over there its our A wing it hasn't been used for a couple of years."

Biacan says the "A" Wing is cordoned off because the building is literally falling to pieces from poor construction and termite infestation, evident by exposed rebar in the ceilings and rubble on the ground. Today the two-story building is used to dump broken desks, old computers, and out of date books, leaving Biacan and Rioja with poor impressions of what local leaders have done to improve education on island.

"I would give them a 'C' because they take so long to do anything to make decisions and funding...a lot of our facilities are down and just because it takes so long and we have such little time at this school. Since last year they were talking about our gym and they finally started this year," he said.

According to the Facilities Capital Action Plan conducted by Sodexo in 2010, the Agat school would cost close to $33 million to completely renovate. But presently as a cost-saving measure, the educational learning task force is more concerned about consolidating southern schools due to low student populations.