GDOE outlines plan for 10-person maintenance teams after $5 million supplemental appropriation

The Guam Department of Education on Feb. 25 said it will create district-based 10-person maintenance teams to return maintenance capacity to school campuses after the 30th Guam Legislature provided a supplemental appropriation of about $5,000,000.

Deputy for Finance and Administrative Services Wade Paul, who presented the plan at a town hall at Southern High School, said the model calls for eight 10-person teams (80 maintenance positions) each assigned to a stationing campus and responsible for three to five nearby schools. “The goal is to try to have each team assigned to their stationing campus,” Paul said. He told the audience he expects the first two teams, including one at Southern High School, to be in place by June and additional teams phased in by Sept. 30.

The plan follows department staffing estimates that showed about 47 “wrench turners” servicing 41 campuses—roughly 1.1 maintainers per school—an arrangement Paul called insufficient. The proposed team…