THE Guam Education Board will be having its regular monthly meeting on Aug. 29, 8 a.m. at the Okkodo High School cafeteria in Dededo.
Up for discussion are agenda items such as the proposed decertification of the Guam Federation of Teachers, district implementation of an honors band course, proposed revisions for the Guam Department of Education 2012-2013 school year calendar, proposed resolution for the education financial supervisory commission, and the Okkodo High School expansion project.
In an interview with GDOE Superintendent Jon Fernandez, he said the Okkodo expansion project has been in the works for at least a couple of years.
Okkodo has a new building designed to accommodate just 1,200 students, but current enrollment so far has already reached 1,500. The expansion is necessary to raise the capacity to a total of 2,000 students.
Fernandez said the total cost of the project is around $22 million. The expansion will cost the department around $2.9 million annually starting Fiscal Year 2014. Funding for the project, Fernandez added, will come from Section 30 funds.
“We will have a leaseback arrangement for the expansion project, which is similar to how we finance some of our new schools. The builder will build a facility and lease it back to GDOE for a certain number of years. Then at the end of the period, it will revert to the department,” Fernandez said.
The project will have upgrades to the track, new classrooms, collateral equipment, cafeteria, and locker rooms.
“Hopefully, by FY2014, we will be able to have students in the new expansion. What we are trying to do is to get a resolution approved to move forward with the financing,” Fernandez said.
