San Agustin, Quinata bill seeks temporary Simon Sanchez High School campus
Pacific Daily News
Jun 2, 2024
Sen. Joe S. San Agustin, along with Sen. Roy Quinata, introduced a bill seeking to amend a law to include “schools” as part of the authorized uses of a Guam Housing Corp. property in Yigo so that it could be turned into a temporary campus for Simon Sanchez High School.
The plan is to build an adjacent temporary campus while the permanent Simon Sanchez High School campus is being rebuilt.
San Agustin and Quinata’s Bill 313-37 would amend Public Law 21-146, seeking to enable the Guam Department of Education and Guam Housing Corp. to move forward with a memorandum of understanding for the use of the property.
Currently, public law only authorizes the use of the property for moderately priced multi-family and multi-story rental units, and any remaining portion of the property for public parts, open spaces, and recreational facilities.
“We recognize that law does not allow the use of this property for schools. This is a small hindrance to moving the campus forward, but nothing we can’t accomplish,” San Agustin said in a statement. “We want to fix that and help DOE and Guam Housing move forward in addressing the double session concerns of the school communities at Sanchez and JFK and bring some normalcy to the lives of all school stakeholders, its students, faculty and staff.”
Two weeks ago, San Agustin and Quinata proposed the idea of a temporary Sanchez High campus to Education Superintendent Erik Swanson and GHC Chairman Frank Florig, who both received the proposal with great interest.
A legal review found out that a change to the law would be necessary to authorize the GHC property’s use.
“The Sharks have faced challenges with outdated school buildings for years. This temporary campus will boost school spirit and enable students to witness the development of their new facilities firsthand,” said Quinata, a graduate of Simon Sanchez High and chairman of the legislative committee with oversight of its rebuilding efforts.
