GW classroom renovations underway

by Krystal Paco

Guam - Work at George Washington High School is well underway as a contractor has begun making upgrades to 17 classrooms for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education forcing the school to break into double-session for the duration of first quarter. 

The notice to proceed was out Friday. Work started bright and early Monday and as of Tuesday, BME & Sons say it'll be smooth sailing for the duration of the project. If they don't finish the work in 60 days, they'll be fined $2,000 in liquidated damages for every day over deadline. General manager Bernie Maranan said, "For right now we don't see any delay we'll meet our target time and all the off-island material is being ordered."

The $2.2 million ARRA project will give the Home of the Geckos classrooms well equipped for STEM education. But for now, contractors are water blasting, painting, upgrading air conditioning units and removing asbestos tiles. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asbestos-containing materials can cause significant health problems and increase the risk of developing lung disease when inhaled.

GW assistant principal Darlene Roberto says extra measures are in place to ensure the hazardous material is removed safely and will pose no threat to students and staff, noting, "GW does have asbestos tiles and the whole campus was encapsulated with those tiles they are removing those in are stem classes that are undergoing renovation. The contractor that's working on the project they've got all their clearances. There is an inspector always at the worksite there are no students here. They are following the standard operating procedures for asbestos removal."

The project will force the Mangilao school to break into double-session for first quarter where upperclassmen attend from 7am to 12:10pm, while freshmen attend from 12:15pm to 5:30pm. Although the Guam Education Board failed to make quorum last week to vote on the issue, Fernandez says members have already agreed to support the project and will ratify the motion at a later meeting.

Both the GEB and the GW community are in support of double-session in order to benefit from the newly outfitted classrooms. "We have moved forward. The board has agreed. And they'll come back and just ratify that action so we pretty much have board support to move forward and they just want to get the work done, said DOE superintendent Jon Fernandez.

"They're excited. At first the parents when we had our stakeholder meetings wanted to possibly delay construction until next summer but as we discussed as we spoke about it together we wanted the construction to happen right away so our students could benefit."

Fernandez says DOE has identified $150,000 in ARRA money to support the lease of 15 school busses and pay fuel and overtime for bus drivers. The bid is out and Fernandez expects to close the bid by this week and make a decision next week before the start of classes August 20.

Students are encouraged to attend orientation this week. Freshmen are slated for August 9 and upperclassmen for August 10. Students with last names starting with 'A' through 'L' will have orientation from 8am to 10am, while students with names 'M' to 'Z' are set for 10:30 to 12:30.