“Let me be perfectly clear: we are in a crisis.”

That's what Committee Oversight Chair on Education, Senator Vince Borja, told education officials on Tuesday.

Borja called out the Guam Education Board, Guam Department of Education Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Swanson, and his management team, asking for clarity: What is the plan? What are the objectives? And who will lead the charge?

His statement also urged the board to work with the superintendent, coming at a tense moment, as some GEB members push for Swanson's removal. 

But Guam Federation of Teachers President Tim Fedenko is calling for unity.

“In the lines of Senator Borja, I think everyone needs to get together and changing the captain or the quarterback in the middle of the game is definitely going to hold us back,” said Fedenko. 

The call for a united front comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of education's denial of  GDOE’s request to reconsider extending the liquidation deadline for three major American Rescue Plan funded projects.

To complicate matters further, the deadline to appeal that denial has also changed.

“We had communication that says if we are denied, you can do an appeal within 30 days. That 30 days again has been changed again. So it’s no longer 30 days. I believe we only have until May 24th to submit an appeal of that denial,” said Sablan. 

That denial puts approximately $108.8 million in limbo, money meant for the refurbishment of 12 campuses, improvements at F.B. Leon Guerrero, and the installation of air conditioners.

Beyond that, GDOE has around 90 other projects hanging in the balance. GEB Vice Chair Mary Okada is urging a sharper focus on priorities.

“You have this looming debt associated with federal funds that are not being reimbursed and there’s a spending spree going on in terms of what is being refurbished and not, and we need funding for FEMA or funding from FEMA for a FEMA project to build temporary classrooms. You need to figure out what the priority is because you can’t run after everything and put the government of Guam in debt. Because if you don’t come up with the money, that means the government of Guam is going to assume that debt—that means every person, every public employee, every private citizen is going to somehow assume your debt,” said Okada. 

Meanwhile, Swanson says GDOE is considering legal action, with a recent win in which a federal judge ordered the u.s. department of education to restore over $1 billion to states. 

That ruling came after a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, joined by 15 others and Pennsylvania's Governor, challenging the Trump administration's ARP cuts.

“The guidance I’m getting is to plan to go forward with a suit in federal and district court here as the territory because we’re unique compared to the states. But because it’s a federal case, we have to exhaust all the administrative steps first before we can file in federal court. But our legal team is putting together the basis for that filing,” said Swanson. 

As Okada raises concerns about GDOE’s financial instability tied to ARP funds, GEB Chair Angel Sablan presses the question: How will GDOE pay for legal action?

Swanson says, to his understanding, it would come from local funds.

“We don’t have many options left, that’s for sure. We’re just trying every opportunity we can to see whether we can make something stick. Like the vice chair said, if none of this goes through, every single person on Guam is going to be holding the bag for the projects that have  already been approved and even for projects that are not completed,” said Sablan.