Superintendent Eric Swanson and senior Guam Department of Education (GDOE) officials told the Legislature’s Committee of the Whole that the department cannot operate within the $266 million ceiling proposed in the FY26 bill without deep cuts that would hit students and schools.

Swanson said GDOE’s needed, needs-based budget is roughly $317.4 million and that the department’s submitted request was $306 million. He warned the committee that “passing the budget as is will be disastrous for the department and Guam as a whole.”

The testimony outlined both targeted cuts and mandatory cost increases that together create a roughly $50.9 million gap between GDOE’s needs and the proposed ceiling. Swanson and budget staff said about $29.6 million of specific proposed cuts would come from line items such as substitute-teacher coverage, school athletics, IT network switches and special-education case management; they said mandatory increases — including higher pension contribution rates and full-year contract costs for food services — raise baseline spending by about $15.9 million.

Why it matters: GDOE leaders said the proposed ceiling would force layoffs, reduced hours and fewer school-level supports. That would affect classroom supervision, athletics, instructional coverage and maintenance of aging school facilities, they said.

Most important facts
- GDOE baseline request and technical corrections: superintendent said the true needs-based total is $317.4 million; the department submitted $306 million to the Legislature.
- Proposed FY26 ceiling under the bill before the committee: $266 million (committee and department speakers cited a $10 million difference with the Executive Budget Report).
- Estimated lapses and available balances: department staff estimated current-year lapses of about $11 million to $15 million; department officials said those lapses stem in part from procurement delays and some intentional accumulation of limited gaming funds for capital projects.
- Specific line items listed by GDOE as at-risk under the $266 million ceiling: $10 million in unfilled vacancies and proposed new positions (excluding filled facilities/maintenance posts); $7.7 million for substitute coverage (to move from one substitute per school toward four); $3.4 million for utility costs; $3.2 million to replace network switches (installed in 2012); $359,000 for a case management system for students with disabilities; and several smaller items for accreditation, professional development and fleet maintenance.

Discussion and staff explanations
Superintendent Eric Swanson, Chief of Finance Wade Paul and budget officer Jordan Bukakoska explained the numbers and presented a spreadsheet of balances and proposed reductions. Swanson described staffing shortages, saying GDOE still tracks about 54 teacher vacancies and several school-based administrative vacancies; he said total student enrollment is roughly 23,500 (enrollment excludes charter schools) and the per-pupil local appropriation from the $266 million figure is about $1,100 per student based on the prior year appropriation.

Wade Paul, GDOE’s finance chief, told senators the department expects a year-end lapse likely between $11 million and $15 million and said some lapses are intentional (for example, a limited-gaming fund that accumulates annually for sports-facility capital projects). Paul said other lapses result from procurements that could not be completed because contracts were protested or the procurement office lacks capacity to process the volume of federal and local procurements.

Budget staff from the Legislature and the department explained how the FY26 ceiling was derived. Office of Finance and Budget (OFB) staff said they started from FY25 appropriations (including a $10 million supplemental) and applied expenditure trends and reserve-category allocations from the Executive Budget Report (EBR) to set department ceilings. OFB staff noted that this was the first budget that placed GDOE in a reserve category in the EBR rather than listing a standalone line appropriation.

Procurement, staffing and administrative capacity
GDOE officials described procurement staffing shortfalls that slow contract execution for commodities, repairs and capital work. The department reported having two Buyer II positions (one newly hired but not yet onboard) and said it needs several additional certified buyers to process large federal and local contracts. Senators repeatedly pressed whether procurement shortfalls — and not a lack of appropriated funds — explain the apparent lapses.

Budget officer Jordan Bukakoska and Deputy for Accountability Leah Nohalewa said many lapses reflect the department’s limited ability to convert appropriations into executed purchase orders and payments. Bukakoska said some lapses are the result of reassigning funds to cover utilities or emergency costs and that the department is pursuing internal reforms, the board-led audit and targeted hiring to improve fiscal execution.

Limited gaming fund and school self-help (Salape principal) funds
Senators pressed GDOE on a limited-gaming fund that has accumulated roughly $2.4 million and is statutorily restricted to sports-facility repair and construction. Several senators — one identifying himself as the statute’s author — criticized the long accumulation without distribution and asked GDOE to use the fund to buy equipment and supplies for schools while pursuing capital funding for larger projects such as Southern High School’s field.

Senators and GDOE staff also discussed the Salape principal (self-help) fund, which the department uses to let principals purchase small, school-level supplies and spot repairs. GDOE officials said the fund reduces procurement burden for small purchases and that principals have used it for items such as cafeteria cleaning supplies and routine upkeep; the department said the fund was cut in the department’s spending plan when the appropriation fell short.

Maintenance and refurbishment projects, ARP reimbursements
GDOE’s facilities and capital staff (Nick Cruz and Jimmy Pangalini) gave a status update on ARP-funded refurbishment projects. They reported restarted work after a pause from the U.S. Department of Education and said several restroom renovations, roof work and exterior-door projects are underway; Cruz said the department expects to expend ARP funds and submit reimbursement requests in cycles and is moving through those cycles quickly. The department also said it has paid certain vendors after a backlog and expects to be caught up after several more cycles.

Substitutes, athletics and student supports
GDOE testified that the current funding supports one substitute teacher per school; the request would move that coverage closer to four substitutes per school to address typical absentee rates. Officials warned that cuts to substitute coverage and athletics supplements would result in more classrooms left uncovered and fewer sports and after-school activities.

Legislative reaction and next steps
Several senators expressed frustration with recurring explanations that procurement and internal controls cause lapses. Some members urged corrective action, audits and reforms; others proposed additional funding amendments. Committee leadership said BBMR (budget office) and OFB would be called later in the day to explain the $10 million gulf between the committee’s ceiling and the EBR’s allocation for GDOE.

What the department requested and what would happen under the ceiling
GDOE said its needs-based case (after corrections and formula adjustments) totals $317.4 million with a general-fund ask of $291.4 million, assuming special funds remain at FY25 levels. Under the proposed $266 million ceiling, the department said it would need to identify approximately $50.9 million in general-fund reductions; after the department’s listed technical cuts and mandatory cost increases, an additional $20 million of cuts would still be required — cuts that department officials said would cause layoffs, school closures in some communities and reduced services.

Ending
Committee leadership recessed the hearing and said agency budget and fiscal staff (including BBMR and OFB) would return later for follow-up. Senators asked GDOE to supply the committee with the detailed spreadsheet they referenced in testimony. The department said it would provide the documents and continue to coordinate with federal and territorial fiscal offices on reimbursements and procurement fixes.