Hagåtña, Guam – In response to concerns raised by stakeholders during school safety meetings held earlier this year, the Leon Guerrero-Tenorio Administration and the Guam Department of Education (GDOE) are directing $1.98 million in Department of the Interior grant funding to outfit 31 schools with a district-wide integrated intercom/paging and bell system. The proposed system will be able to instantly relay information to and from the classrooms, especially in instances of emergency.

This award is a direct result of the School Safety Partnership Initiative that we established early in our Administration. The concerns raised by our educators, parents, and students during these meetings helped frame our priorities to provide a safe educational environment,” Governor Lou Leon Guerrero said.

The system will provide a unified advanced crisis response solution across the education system. By modernizing critical communications and emergency response on a district-wide basis,
GDOE will be able to effectively provide communications to schools. The integrated system will not only facilitate day-to-day management and communications but will also be designed and maintained with emergency response in mind.

This is the first of many plans we hope to implement at GDOE in order to improve our students’ safety and the quality of education they receive,” said Lt. Governor Tenorio. “Students and teachers shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not they’ll get stuck in the middle of an emergency due to delayed dissemination of information. The completion of this project will allow our schools to focus on their true purpose of teaching and learning.”

I’m truly appreciative of the quick turnaround time that Governor Leon Guerrero and Lt. Governor Tenorio have been able to achieve for this funding. I look forward to continued collaboration with GDOE and the Governor and Lt. Governor in order to improve the quality of education for our students. The approval of this funding will help us allocate local funding for other priorities such as teachers, textbooks, and other capital improvement projects,” added GDOE Superintendent Jon Fernandez.

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