GEB discussing their next moves forward

An independent audit released back in December, which puts education leaders under the microscope, finally getting the spotlight Tuesday—with the GEB discussing their next moves forward in addressing the report.

During Tuesday night’s Guam Education board meeting, the board finally addressing the release of the less-than-stellar independent curriculum and management audit of the Guam Department of Education, which was made public back in December. The board has yet to decide whether it will accept or reject the audit.

Dr. Mary Okada, the GEB's vice chair, said, "Now that it has been released to the public, what is the pleasure of the board? The board was not given the opportunity to request that the changes be made for errors of fact. So, the report has already been issued, so the board has the option to accept or reject this audit, even though the information is not correct.”

The report, conducted by the Pacific Policy Research Center, flagged several concerns, including ongoing issues of “low trust and fractured relationships between the GEB, GDOE leadership, and staff. 

Sablan said, “There were some innuendos or accusations, if you want to put it that way, that some board members were this or that. I’m sure that this will come up at the oversight meeting that’s being called for GDOE on Feb. 4th.”

Okada requesting a meeting with GDOE superintendent Dr. Judi Won Pat, along with the Internal Audit Office, to help resolve the issue. “I think we need to contact the vendor so that they can make corrections–especially to the titles of the members of the board. Those are the simple corrections we’re asking. We’re not asking to change the content of what they provided. We are asking to make corrections to errors of fact," she said.

The board ultimately not taking action to accept or reject the report, as efforts are underway to develop a unified statement regarding the audit. This comes as education oversight chair Senator Vince Borja is expected to hold a joint oversight hearing on the GEB and GDOE on February 4 that 9 a.m.