Hard-fought victory: Guam has first new high school since 2008
Tiyan campus improves learning at three campuses
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2014
 
“Happy Birthday to Tiyan High School!  This whole thing started as one of the biggest and unwarranted controversies, with so many false accusations.  Even all that bad press didn’t deter us from doing what was right.  Now we have Guam’s newest high school and the feeling is sweet.  But this is just the beginning.  At the end of the month, we’ll push forward an initiative to invest $100 million of repairs and renovations into the rest of our schools.  I promise our island: you ain’t seen nothing yet.”  – Governor Eddie Baza Calvo
 
Tiyan High School opens with a clean slate, infinite potential                                
A new high school is open to students — the first since 2008.  Governor Eddie Baza Calvo made it his personal mission to turn the campus at Tiyan into a brand-new high school.  Tiyan High School (THS) will end overcrowding at George Washington, John F. Kennedy, and Okkodo High Schools.  The crowding problem at GWHS has been an issue for two decades.
 
NEXT: Calvo announces award of $100 million school repair contract by month’s end           
In addition to opening a new high school, Governor Calvo also announced that barring unforeseen delays, DPW expects the RFP for the modernization of all schools will be awarded at the end of this month.
 
This means work to improve older facilities like Simon Sanchez High, George Washington High, Southern High, and Benavente Middle schools (just to name a few) will be able to move forward.
 
This level of investment into our schools is unprecedented, and a clear indication of the Governor’s commitment to providing the best learning environment to our students, teachers, and families.
 
Road to today was filled with opposition to students’ needs                                               
This initiative was a direct response to the wishes and needs of the Department of Education and the Guam Legislature.  Despite longstanding commitments to opening a new high school, and laws explicitly authorizing and mandating the acquisition of the property, leaders changed their stance and began opposing the move.
 
Some of these critics were in fact the biggest proponents of the Tiyan campus’ use as a high school, and they still have yet to explain what motivated their extreme change in position.  Governor Calvo, Superintendent Jon Fernandez, Republican senators, and partners on the board never faltered — insisting these projects were the right thing to do for our students.
 
 

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