Millions in much-needed school repairs have been hanging in the balance, but might finally move forward thanks to the latest decision by the Department of Public Works. The $100 million deal to rebuild Simon Sanchez High School and repair 35 other schools might finally be back on the table, after the latest protest by CoreTech International was denied by DPW on Wednesday.

The denial letter states the protest was without merit and questioned whether it was made in good faith, or was merely intended to delay the procurement process. It calls some of the protests objections "frivolous" and "unsubstantiated" and goes on to say, "protests should be based on facts and not speculation." Phil Flores told KUAM News, "So we're happy that the second protest has been denied 135 and we're ready to move forward as quickly as possible."

Flores is director of the company slated to receive the multi-million dollar award, the Guam Education Facilites Foundation. And he's not the only one happy to hear the news.

During school tours earlier this week, superintendent Jon Fernandez made it clear DOE has been struggling with facilities in need of major upgrades, saying, "If you go through, let's say Benavente Middle School, it's obviously one of the things I would prioritize with the $100 million is to address some of the longstanding safety issues and health issues at the school, so we would be looking not just here, but at the other schools in need."

But at the top of the list is Sanchez High. Even with the delay, Flores said he's confident the school can be fully rebuilt by 2019, just in time for current freshmen to spend their final year in the new facility. "We'll just have to work harder and faster, but we can still do it as long as we don't get these frivolous protests," he shared.

But the story might not be over yet - CoreTech still has an opportunity to file for administrative and judicial review of the protest denial.

This is the second time DPW has denied a protest by Tech for this project. In the first protest, DPW rejected it because it was not timely filed. Additionally the agency accused core tech's legal counsel Joyce Tang of engaging in unethical and unlawful conduct by her "blatant disregard" for the procurement process and clearly intended to influence the contracting officers' decision.

As a result the agency placed CoreTech and Tang on notice that the next time either engages in such unethical conduct, DPW would take appropriate action which could include disqualifying them from the procurement under consideration.