Two elementary schools forced to do online learning

Two elementary schools are being forced to do online learning restrooms, hot classrooms, and dirty ventilation filters in multiple rooms.

It's just a glimpse into a larger problem the Department of Public Health and Social Services inspectors found during recent visits.

The result led to the Guam Department of Education deciding to close both Tamuning Elementary and Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary Schools. 

Both campuses closed with a "D" rating just as quickly as they opened for the new school year two weeks ago.

Parents, like Sophia Reyes, are now scrambling to adjust to the abrupt notice that their children will be online learning. 

"This caught us off guard," she told KUAM News. "We didn’t realize that they were going to shut down like at the start of the school year.”

Reyes was among many parents planning to send their children to school in person for the rest of the week. 

Instead, they were left rushing to pick up the hard-copy learning materials their kids will need to finish the school week. 

With one child at Tamuning Elementary and another at LBJ, it's left Reyes frustrated. 

She says this out-of-the-blue schedule just made things more difficult. 

“For me, it sucks because I have a 3rd grader here, I have a kindergärtner at LBJ, and then we have a 2-week-old newborn," she said. "So, online, we have to work with them on the laptops and while dealing with sleep deprivation. I’m just glad I’m still on leave from work so I can help my husband work with my two boys and take care of the baby.” 

It’s a support system needed for remote learning that Reyes emphasizes not everyone has. 

“I have co-workers that can’t take off work, and they don’t know what to do with their child now that it’s online and they have to be home," she said. "So, it’s very inconvenient for a lot of the parents and a lot of the families because some don’t have the support system that others have.” 

The closure left many stunned as they thought they had more time.

Over the summer, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero signed off on a bill passed during an emergency session that delayed the compliance mandate for Public Health sanitary permits to next year. 

Leon Guerrero then stated the previous law that would have taken effect this year was "flawed."

But this recent closure has others worried that their school will fail their health inspection. 

In response, GDOE spokesperson Michelle Franquez told  KUAM, "Though the law gives us an additional year, we have kept up the momentum with one school visited a week." She added, "We have committed to one school inspection through April when all schools will be inspected. GDOE is working to be proactive and not wait until the new law is implemented."

In the meantime, parents are seeing the bigger issue--that schools are desperately needing repair. 

A problem that this LBJ parent, Anthony Kisa, says also falls on the shoulders of the Government of Guam to fix. 

“Having the community involved helps a lot, but like I said, the government needs to have our backs, too," he said.  "Where’s our funding? Where’s our updated books? Where are all the repairs that are needed for these schools? I mean, we have schools that are leaking – we schools where the ceiling is falling down on students–rats running around in classrooms–that’s unacceptable, and I cannot believe that our government just stands by and lets it slide.” 

hough both parents are relieved their children won’t be attending an unsafe learning environment, both agree that education and government officials have to find a better way than the status quo. 

An email from Tamuning Elementary School principal Geraldine Quejado is circulating, cautioning teachers unable to telework from home to plan alternate locations as there are no available rooms to work remotely at GDOE headquarters in Tiyan. 

It comes as inspections of GDOE schools by Public Health are underway--as only time will tell if the same online fate lies ahead for other campuses.

Virtual learning for both Tamuning and LBJ will begin on Monday, Sept. 11, until both schools undergo repairs and Public Health re-inspection.