Department of Defense schools are preparing for an eventual large increase in military dependent students, and are looking to the Guam Department of Education to help accommodate the overflow. A DoD team recently toured multiple local campuses to see how it can help refurbish them ahead of the transfer of DODEA students.

GDOE superintendent Dr. Kenneth Swanson says the Department of Defense Education Activity team made up of planning and facility experts recently visited four campuses: Southern High, Oceanview Middle, Upi Elementary and Ukkudo High. "So they wanted to get a sense of the condition and the facilities that were there, so it was pretty much a walk and talk over the whole facility," he detailed.

Its not known yet when and how many military dependent students will attend GDOE schools, but the preparations are certainly underway. And Swanson says GDOE has plenty of room for more students.

Because of a growing exodus in families seeking better opportunities off-island, current classroom capacity is well in excess of the number of students, as he said, "My objective is to make the adjustments in the number of open campuses we have, but keep the capacity that we need for growth for our island population and for any sort of influx that happens to be here. So it's trying to call the shots in a smart way when it comes to making decisions about which campuses to keep open and which ones to surplus."

In addition to DoD providing funding to renovate certain schools, GovGuam would also be eligible for per-pupil cost reimbursement, similar to what the school system received before DoDEA schools were established here more than 25 years ago.

"As you know, we're working overtime, literally, to overcome deficiencies in our facilities that have been created over the last multiple years," said Swanson. "And the dollars I have to fix that are not sufficient to the task, so I'm absolutely open to if someone wants to bring their checkbook, we will entertain the conversation."

He says another DoDEA team is expected to visit in February.