Education officials are sensitive to insinuation that the Guam Department of Education is in any way responsible for the loss of federal financial support. GDOE managers and Guam Education Board chairman Angel Sablan, in a news conference Thursday, said that if by Friday morning the U.S. Secretary of Education does not green light GDOE’s appeal to extend the liquidation deadline on American Rescue Plan Act funds, the GEB will consider calling for an emergency and asking the Guam Legislature to intervene.
That intervention likely will cost local taxpayers $20 million. That is money GDOE will use to finish the repair projects, Mr. Sablan said. Asked what message education officials have to the people of Guam and to senators, many of whom anticipating the use of local surplus funds for tax relief or other projects, Mr. Sablan was adamant GDOE did no wrong.
Other members of the board, officials at Adelup, and sources from within GDOE disagree with Sablan’s assessment.
GDOE’s financial position already was complicated before February 19 this year, when U.S. DOE informed the agency that it could only use the balance of its ARPA funds on a reimbursement basis. That directive restricted cash flow, but the governor and education oversight chairman Senator Vince Borja had agreed to a plan to cut GDOE a $30 million line of credit so the agency could continue the federally funded projects without juggling cash flow from local programs and projects. Then, weeks later, U.S. DOE reportedly changed its mind, telling GDOE the previous March 2026 liquidation deadline had been moved up 12 months.
GDOE has had to notify contractors and vendors funded through these federal obligations to pause all work, the agency holding out hope that the Secretary of Education will grant GDOE’s appeal on its March directive.
While GDOE superintendent Erik Swanson and Mr. Sablan assert the agency was on track to liquidate the funds by March next year, GDOE was awarded these federal funds years ago, during the pandemic. That was years before Mr. Swanson was even hired.
Public audits and a paper trail of communications with U.S. DOE show throughout this period, GDOE was remiss in its responsibilities to plan for the use of, obligate, and liquidate these federal funds.
“The money was awarded two years earlier, and they sat [until] the last minute and created bottlenecks,” a GDOE source that has been tracking progress on the use of federal funds said.
Information asserted by U.S. DOE also does not jive with GDOE officials’ claims.
An email last month to Mr. Swanson from a U.S. DOE official states, “As you know, we have reached out to you several times regarding your combined final FY2023 Maintenance of Effort Data. We understand Guam has been waiting on the completion of its final audit so that you are able to submit the most accurate data, and we have granted multiple extensions for you to submit the report.”
The email went on to remind Mr. Swanson that all grantees throughout the country are required to submit such reports consistent with the requirements set under every pandemic-era federal assistance program affecting the education district, from the CARES Act to ARPA.
Mr. Swanson in the news conference said the agency finally submitted the MOE report in March, and blamed the belated audit for the delay. Kandit asked for documented confirmation of the submission as senators, board members, and GDOE employees have accused the superintendent and some on his team of dishonesty before senators and the public.
Kandit also will be requesting travel documents from the agency, as sources from both the board and Adelup assert GDOE in one year spent more than $7 million on travel. Mr. Swanson and his finance deputy, M. Wade Borja Paul, agreed that GDOE does spend millions on travel annually; however, they pointed to student travel as the reason the figure is in the millions. Asked whether and why GDOE staff were traveling at high rates, Mr. Swanson said that no local funds are used for travel and that only allowable grant funding is used. He did not answer why so many staffers have been traveling.
