It's a growing problem and one that may be posing a health and financial burden on the Guam Department of Education post-Typhoon Mawar—mold.

"One of the biggest problems that we've encountered as a result of this storm is the growth of mold throughout our schools," acting Superintendent Judi Won Pat said.

KUAM learned learning from an anonymous GDOE employee the mold issue is already evident on their campus— she and her co-workers experiencing difficulty breathing while cleaning classrooms.

Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares saw a similar instance at Liguan Elementary School—as even contracted cleaners with GDOE refused to deal with the silent killer.

“With Liguan Elementary, I had concerns because the schools have no power, and the staff were sitting outside, and when the cleaning people came–the cleaning staff came, there were only certain things they would clean, and there's mold growing in there," she said. "They said it's not on their contract to clean the mold. That's my concern—I don't want to see the staff go in there or the school staff either because it's going to make someone sick."

Won Pat already consulting with expert mold mitigators who gave the department a dollar amount should 30% of its facilities have mold growth.

"With that estimate, they were quoting us about $13 million just to mitigate that," she said.

Won Pat said if the growth isn't as extensive as experts estimate, considering the majority of GDOE exteriors are concrete and easier to clean, the cost may drop to around 6.5 million dollars

Still, she says, drywall remains a real concern.

Won pat doubled down on the department's priority for health and safety—emphasizing they are not asking employees to handle the mold.

"We're not also forcing anyone, and we have actually told them is that we don't want them to touch certain chemicals," she said.

She added neither is GDOE forcing employees to work full shifts without power or water.

Still, for the 12-month GDOE employees telling KUAM they've been working in harsh conditions from 7 a.m. to 3:30 pm without utilities, Guam Education Board Vice Chair Maria Gutierrez had this to say: "I know that this is the central office because the schools that I go to–those people stay till the time they get off—they don't leave. Even they don't even have water and power. Mayor, you've seen the schools–they're in your area: Maria Ulloa, Wettengel, Benavente—they're all there–they're in bahaki, they're even cutting the trees, they're scrubbing everything! So if those employees at those schools can stay for the whole hours that they're supposed to stay and get paid, I don't see what's the difference here in the central office."