Close to 40 teachers seeking increments

by Krystal Paco

Guam - There may be a freeze on increments GovGuam-wide but dozens of Department of Education employees are fighting for their raises and they've taken their concerns to the Civil Service Commission.

Agana Heights Elementary School teacher Carol Somerfleck and 37 of her coworkers are seeking their increments with retropay to the dates they were due. Earlier this month, the group filed grievances at the Civil Service Commission contending the Department of Education improperly implemented the executive order for freezes throughout GovGuam by Acting Governor Ray Tenorio in 2011.

As we reported last week, Carol Somerfleck told KUAM News if tax refunds and merit bonuses could be paid out, so should increments. She added she's garnered the support of DOE's administrative grievance committee whose findings showed that previous and current DOE budgets included increments anticipated for the upcoming school year.

In his response however, DOE superintendent Jon Fernandez stated it was outside DOE's authority to make such payouts. Attorney Daniel Somerfleck represents the AHES employees, and said, "Each level we've gone through up until this point the answer has been pretty much the same. It's above my authority to go against and I think that's what DOE is basically putting forward is that the governor has told us to do this it's above our authority to not follow his executive order."

"Has the superintendent failed to follow law by not providing what's provided by law? Is this an illegal act?" Somerfleck questioned.

DOE's Robert Koss agrees that the issue at hand is the legality of the executive order but questions the commission's ability to address the case. "My question to the commission is does the commission have the jurisdiction and authority to overrule an executive order?" he said. Koss continued, "On behalf of the department, we're not opposed to granting increments we simply are complying with the executive order. If we have the authority to grant increments the money to grant increments I'm sure the department would love to give their employees increments."

A status call is set for May 9 and a grievance hearing for June 6. In addition, Okkodo High School teacher Barbara Janssen filed a similar grievance with the CSC. Her grievance hearing is set for August 1.