by Krystal Paco

Guam - Thanks to a working group of administrators, teachers, school based personnel, and nurses, the Department of Education finally has a streamlined process for employee evaluations and ultimately, merit bonuses.

Submitted last night to the Guam Education Board, DOE superintendent Jon Fernandez says the process now allows every employee the right to compete for a merit bonus in a transparent and fair manner.

He said, "Prior to this what we saw with the merit bonus situation was that different evaluation forms were being used at our different school sites - they were outdated and certainly were not uniformed so it made it very difficult to ascertain an employee's opportunity to be eligible for a merit bonus," he said.

In order to receive a merit bonus and be deemed a highly effective DOE employee, supervisors must also provide documentation to validate the performance rating.

As we previously reported, it was earlier this year the Calvo Administration paid out $4.5 million in meritorious bonuses for GovGuam employees with superior evaluations thanks to the law passed back in 1991.