Borja presses Charter School Council on oversight, SIFA facility crisis

The legislative chair of the Committee on Education, Libraries and Public Broadcasting is calling the Guam Academy Charter School Council to the table as he questioned the council's oversight responsibilities and how they are being exercised.

Committee Chair Sen. Vincent Borja cited the law that created charter schools outside of the Guam Department of Education system. He noted the charters' independence does not mean "the absence of accountability," pointing to oversight falling on the council.

"Under 17 GCA § 12114, the Council is empowered, and in certain circumstances required, to place a charter school on probation or revoke its charter when statutory grounds have been established," Borja said.

The Aug. 11 letter was addressed to Evangeline Cepeda, the council chair.

Though Borja noted concerns raised involving two separate charter schools, he highlighted repeated facility challenges at the Science Is Fun and Awesome Learning Academy Charter School (SIFA).

"For more than a year, Science Is Fun and Awesome Learning Academy Charter School, or SIFA, has operated without a stable permanent campus. Last school year, SIFA ultimately began classes at a temporary location at the Guam Community College while continuing to seek a permanent facility. Now, one year later, we find ourselves facing another last-minute facility crisis," Borja said.

The senator asserted that last-minute crises can't become an annual problem for the legislature to solve.

He also told Cepeda that the Office of Public Accountability has notified his office that another charter school has yet to release its fiscal 2024 or fiscal 2025 audits.

"Again, the law is not ambiguous about the Council's oversight responsibility. Charter schools are required to submit annual reports that include their annual financial audits, and the Council is specifically required to monitor compliance with those reporting requirements," Borja said.

In the interest of fairness to compliant schools and prospective applicants, he questioned when the council would enforce compliance.

"If a charter holder repeatedly cannot fulfill the basic responsibilities associated with that charter, we have to be willing to ask whether continuing that charter indefinitely is fair to students, taxpayers or prospective applicants who are prepared to follow the rules," Borja said.

He also asked for a response in writing to 11 questions, including how the council monitors each charter school and how frequently, what actions the council has taken regarding SIFA's lack of facility, expectations for facility readiness before each new school year and how the council addresses failures to comply with financial audit deadlines.

Of the questions, Borja said he was particularly interested in whether the council possesses sufficient enforcement authority to carry out its statutory responsibilities.

Borja said he was open to discussing strengthening the law.

"What I am not willing to accept is a system in which safeguards exist on paper, but accountability disappears in practice," he said.

Guam News Network has reached out to the Guam Academy Charter School Council chair; a response is pending.

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