Anticipated low student return will allow GDOE to work out the details

Now that the governor has given the approval for students to head back to class the Guam Department of Education is moving forward with plans to reopen campuses


The latest executive order states all institutions of learning can resume on-campus classes on Jan. 18. GDOE Superintendent, Jon Fernandez said anything can happen between now and then but they're ready.


"Allowing us to move forward to reopen for face-to-face instruction doesn't mean that if the situation changes after Christmas and after New Year's we're just gonna barrel ahead and open up you know no matter what," he said.

GDOE has already completed surveys with parents and 70%-80% of students will not be returning to campus.

"People are going to say well you know is this is it worth opening if it's just going to be 20%, 30% of your students there but to us, it represents a starting point," Fernandez said. "You know for us, it represents an opportunity to see how the safety protocols work. If there needs to be adjustments we have the opportunity to make those adjustments because we'll see you know what students do when they come in and how they interact. It's going to give us a chance to work those details out without having the pressure of so many students there at once."

Included in the executive order is the authorization for govguam social workers to conduct home visitations. It's something GDOE needed to connect with at least 500 students who haven't received any educational instruction since the start of the school year.


"There are students out there that we just have been unable to reach so we're just very glad to see in this executive order the governor making an explicit authorization for social service workers which would include our... social workers and outreach teams to be able to conduct those home visits," Fernadez said. "Because we really look forward to getting out into those areas where we know there may be kids who are not you know participating in school. Checking on them, seeing how they're doing and maybe use that opportunity to register them but also get them some supplies that might be needed to kind of help them in that transition back to school."

Teachers and staff will return to campuses on Jan. 4 to begin training for the new semester. Public school Students will officially resume face to face learning on Jan. 19. GDOE is also working with the Department of Public Works to finalize bussing schedules as well as working on successfully supporting all models of learning.