by Krystal Paco

Guam - From school lunches to facilities, new Department of Education superintendent Jon Fernandez listened to students and staff voice their concerns at Simon Sanchez High School and F.B. Leon Guerrero Middle School this morning. Today's school visits are the first of many as Fernandez hopes to visit all 41 public campuses before they are slated to open on August 20.

Fernandez refused to spend his first day on the job sitting at his desk. Instead he took to two northern schools with open ears and eyes to gauge what he'll be working with for the next three years of his contract. "My interest is that we turn this conversation back to how we are serving our students, and I say that because when I started researching if this was the job, the challenge I'd like to take on I looked up all the news stories, the research the issues and I noticed that a lot of it was federal high risk our facilities are broken students are having to fix their facilities," he shared. "Procurements are really problematic; what I wanted to know is what does this mean in terms of what our students learning and getting the information and instruction to really succeed, and that's something I'd like to focus on this year - getting a baseline sense of where we are today,"

While visiting Sanchez High, Fernandez couldn't help but notice the gym's freshly painted walls and bleachers, which were part of a senior class legacy project. But students couldn't fix the gym's leaking ceiling, evident by the puddles of water cordoned off by benches. According to DOE deputy superintendent Rob Malay, roofing repairs have been delayed in procurement. Fernandez says although he applauds the Sharks for their initiative, he says a student's responsibility is to learn - it's his job to fix things.

"I can't expect my students to be the ones who are in charge of fixing our facilities, because if their fixing their facilities whether I know it promotes civic responsibility although I believe that's a great thing but I really want them to be learning. That's my job," he said.

Fernandez aspires to provide stability to the agency, which has averaged 21 superintendents in the last 21 years. "It's not going to happen overnight we didn't get here overnight, so I think one two three years is really important to lay a foundation. So when I say that we're averaging one superintendent on the face of it is not a solution for solving our problems, so I'd just like to create some stability and some forward progress," he continued.

Fernandez will continue his school visits Tuesday at Oceanview Middle School and Southern High School. He tells KUAM News he will continue his assessment of the department for the next 60 to 90 days.