A bill meant to make it easier for parents and students to see sanitation and safety violations at public schools is a step closer to becoming law after advancing at Monday’s legislative session.
Also advancing was a bill seeking to increase the amount of solar panel power production that businesses can be subsidized for, and another one that would mandate local schools to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, among others.
Sen. Jesse Lujan’s Bill 48-37 would mandate that inspection reports detailing everything from plumbing and toilet facilities to safety and the number of certified instructors at a school be posted on the Guam Department of Education website, or another dedicated webpage.
Schools would also have to post a physical copy of reports in a “conspicuous place” near the main office of the campus, following an amendment from Sen. Joe San Agustin. Such reports would show whether the school failed an inspection, or if some parts of the school have been condemned.
Though lawmakers still have to vote on whether to pass Bill 48-37, all 15 senators agreed to be added on as sponsors during debate Monday.
After years without a graded sanitation inspection, GDOE is rushing to get long dilapidated schools that were further damaged by Typhoon Mawar to pass inspections before the start of the next school year.
Parents are often left “oblivious” to the “dire and unsanitary conditions” at local public schools, Lujan told colleagues, unless poor conditions end up in media reports.
That practice was unacceptable, he said, and it would not be burdensome to require GDOE to post such reports online.
San Agustin amended the measure to require the physical posting of reports on campus, stating that not everyone would be looking online.
“I believe that needs to be posted out on this, on the school, when parents are driving up so that everybody knows what the status of the schools are. And so then maybe the (Parent Teacher Organization), and everybody else will participate,” he said.
Although GDOE’s website does have a “Sanitation Inspection Status” link on its homepage, clicking on the link did not lead to a listing of school inspection reports on Monday.
School inspection reports can be found on the Department of Public Health and Social Services website, though several menus have to be navigated through to find the list of reports.
Net metering
Also advancing Monday was Sen. William Parkinson’s Bill 142-37, which would allow non-residential customers generating renewable energy to expand the amount of money they can get through the Guam Power Authority’s net-metering program.
On Guam, almost all renewable energy is solar. The program lets customers sell any excess energy they produce back to GPA, for a credit against their power bill.
The program is limited to 100 kilowatt systems, but Parkinson’s bill would allow non-residential systems up to 500 kw to participate.
But Sen. Sabina Perez raised concern over the measure, noting that GPA was losing money on the net metering program, and that expanding the program could cause customers without solar panels to end up paying for those that are in the net metering program.
GPA buys solar energy back from generators at full power rate, meaning that they can’t make any money selling the energy back to other customers. The utility has testified that most of those that participate in the program don’t have a battery either, and still end up relying on GPA power at night, without paying their part for maintenance costs.
Parkinson said the utility has resorted to “emotional blackmail” whenever lawmakers attempted to pass legislation that would save customers money.
Perez amended the measure to require that customers with over 250 kw of power generation get at least a one hour backup, to prevent them from suddenly shutting down a GPA circuit if cloud cover cuts off solar energy.
Bill 142-37 advanced to the voting file without objection.
Other measures advancing Monday include:
- Bill 81-37, seeking to allow the Mayors Council of Guam to choose the date and time of their inauguration ceremony.
- Bill 98-37, seeking to require that all GDOE schools come into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
By: Joe Taitano II
Source: Pacific Daily News