Guam Department of Education students originally enrolled in the face-to-face module of learning can be returning to campuses for a full five days of instruction by January. That means students will no longer be attending classes two to three times a week in scheduled cohorts, which is half of the instructional time during a normal school year.

During a weekly media meeting Wednesday, GDOE Deputy Superintendent of Operations Erika Cruz shared the possible options for the transition.

"Think of having half of our students come in the morning and then the other half in the afternoon--the issue obviously would be a Department of Public works right and the number of buses, that will be able to help," she said. "Doing this type of schedule may be difficult, however, it's not something that we are not considering it is something that we are considering and exploring and we will be able to provide more information, as we do more research on this. However, at this point, we're currently looking at just a regular full day of instruction."

Sneezeguards, three feet distancing, sanitization, and handwashing stations are some of the measures in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

Now that the Centers for Disease Control joined the Food and Drug Administration in approving the Pfizer pediatric vaccine for children 5–11 years of age, Cruz said vaccination is an added layer of protection.

"You know the spread of the coronavirus, additionally, now that we have students who are eligible from ages five and above to avail themselves of the vaccination, that is another mitigation effort that parents can use as they bring their as our students come back to five days face to face," she said.

To address crowded hallways, 276 canopies, 976 tables, and 7,096 chairs have been ordered and are expected to arrive in several weeks. Air purifiers are out for bid and are anticipated to arrive by January, according to Cruz.

Meanwhile, GDOE has 86 teacher vacancies as of September 29 which was higher than the 63 reported in August. However, Jon Fernandez, the superintendent of GDOE said they are gearing up for the possible weeklong return of instruction, as they are hiring more personnel to assist with ensuring students are properly following COVID safety mitigation measures and staffing shortages.

"We advertised for openings for community program aides and for teacher assistants," he said. "So I think we are already through the process of trying to hire for those positions and so the sooner we can get those individuals at the school campuses I think our schools will feel much better in terms of being able to supervise the population on campus, cover classes and other responsibilities."

The community aides will be funded through the Education Stabilization fund.

As KUAM News reported first, GDOE will maintain online learning for the rest of the school year. And the return for a weeklong instructional time will be a phase-in approach from high schools to elementary schools.

GDOE intends to discuss with the Guam Education Board, stakeholders and students before making firm decisions to switch back to five days of in-person instruction.