DPW makes adjustments for new school year

by Krystal Paco

Guam - It's not just students and teachers adjusting to the new school year, but the Department of Public Works. The temporary double-session at George Washington High School is proving to be a speed bump in DPW's already rocky operations.

According to bus operations superintendent Frank Taitano, DPW agreed to provide bus drivers and fuel on the condition that the department of education provides the busses. But Day Three into the new school year and Taitano has yet to have all 12 leased Turtle Tours buses available for GW. At most, he's had 11 on the road and supplements the difference with the DPW fleet.

When he finally had a dozen, four went offline for minor problems, which Turtle Tours handled. "The 12 busses according to DOE are only to be used for GW," he said. "That's where their money's coming out of. I even asked if we could use it elsewhere they said no we have to use it strictly at GW. I said, 'Okay, no problem', but whatever's missing, I pull from another area to see what we can do."

DOE deputy superintendent Rob Malay says although the contract with Turtle Tours' operator, Kloppenburg Enterprises, was for the leasing of 12 to 15 school buses, the number can be tweaked. DOE estimated it would cost $150,000 to cater to double-session at the Mangilao school so 17 of its classrooms can undergo science, technology, engineering, and math upgrades.

He said, "You pay for what you get, so in other words we wouldn't be paying for something we're not receiving. And that's part of the contract or the purchase order we have with Kloppenburg."

On top of the temporary double-session at GW, DPW is hustling to meet the demands of the remaining 30,000+ students as DPW's fleet averages only 115 operating buses per day. "Yes, we need the busses not only on the double-session but all over," he said. "I just got word from the supervisor at the Tamuning Substation that one stop in Tamuning for Rios Middle School last year they were only sending two and a half busses there. They had to have a fourth bus pick up students because they're getting more and more."

In the meantime, Taitano worries his agency won't make payroll. With 2.5 pay periods remaining this fiscal year, and DPW's 15% reserve expended, he comes up short $470,000 to pay 138 full=-time bus operations employees.