DOE chief personally investigating UMS incident

by Nick Delgado

Guam - Department of Education Superintendent Jon Fernandez announced he is personally looking into Wednesday's incident that occurred at Untalan Middle school that involved an upset parent being escorted from the campus. The parent is a high ranking Customs officer who school officials allege made threats to staff after learning his daughter had been bullied at the Tiyan campus. Fernandez believes the school took all measures to ensure the safety of students and followed procedures already in place to address the situation. He states, "As with any serious incident that is reported, I want to make sure that I have the facts before me so that I have a clear view of what went on and what actions were taken. Let there be no doubt that the safety of our children and our employees is a top priority."

Fernandez states calling 911 for law enforcement support was clearly a good decision, whether it was just a precaution or an immediate need. The superintendent will make a personal visit to the school Monday to meet with the administration and staff. Fernandez hopes to get further input and ensure the appropriate steps were taken to inform employees and parents, improve future emergency response at the school level, and to try to prevent similar incidents from occurring.