The decision to allow Science Is Fun and Awesome (SIFA) Learning Academy Charter School to use Chief Brodie Elementary School in Tamuning, after pushback from the George Washington High School community, was made on the cusp of the new school year, raising the question about what this means for the SIFA school community.

According to Guam Academy Charter School Council Chair Evangeline Cepeda, "SIFA will be scheduled to open its doors at Chief Brodie on Aug. 17."

Cepeda said SIFA would inform "all their stakeholders within the next few days."

The development comes after strong pushback from the GWHS community, which opposed the decision by Guam Department of Education Superintendent Judith Won Pat to host SIFA at the Mangilao high school campus. GWHS stakeholders voiced concerns over the displacement of special education students and teachers to accommodate the SIFA school community without adequate transparency or community engagement.

In a Guam Education Board special meeting Friday, GDOE Deputy Superintendent of Finance and Administrative Services Franklin Leon Guerrero explained that it was the GWHS principal who identified the classrooms. It wasn't until after the process started that the principal started receiving concerns from its special education teachers.

"His SpEd teachers started contacting him, saying they did not agree, and so he stood up in that meeting and said, 'I said yes, but now I'm not sure I said the right thing.' Okay, that's where we were," Leon Guerrero said, referencing a meeting with GWHS stakeholders.

Leon Guerrero was adamant that the school's principal talked with the staff and gave the green light to move forward.

The pushback prompted Sen. Vincent Borja, legislative chair of the Committee on Education, Libraries and Public Broadcasting, to plead with Won Pat to reconsider the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SIFA.

Friday evening, Borja announced he had received a favorable response from Won Pat to alternatively use Chief Brodie Elementary School, which has been vacant following its decommissioning in May 2025.

In 2025, SIFA initially sought use of the Chief Brodie facility, but noted its focus shifted due to the land ownership issues.

Leon Guerrero reported that he visited Chief Brodie with Borja and a SIFA representative Friday morning and said land ownership concerns remain.

"The Chief Brodie property is not the Chief Brodie property, really. Unfortunately ... Chief Brodie property is included in the lot number for JFK (John F. Kennedy High School). ... The lot number is tied to a long-term lease-to-own contract for the rebuild of JFK that provides a legal variable," Leon Guerrero said.

Now, GDOE is questioning whether Chief Brodie could be cut out of the JFK lot and made a separate lot, with a separate lease-to-own contract. According to Leon Guerrero, Borja would work on that issue.

He said SIFA has offered to cover the costs of bringing the school up to Sanitary Code and refurbishment. Though he said the legal issue remains, SIFA also noted it would not utilize the classrooms that were identified as owned by the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority.

Leon Guerrero called for the revision of Board Policy 620, "Use of Schools/Other Department of Education Facilities," to allow for leasing out vacant classrooms to generate long-term revenue, for example, "a week, a month or three months."

He said SIFA asked for four months.

"We left the charges and rates structure as it was. We did not adjust the rate structure because our understanding if we adjust the rate structure before we could enact that we would have to go through the Administrative Adjudication Act," Leon Guerrero said.

In October 2025, Public Law 38-66, authored by Sen. Joe San Agustin, was signed, authorizing GDOE to lease properties within its jurisdiction.

However, during the special meeting, broader concerns over the department's legal authority to strike such deals were raised by board members.

GEB member Angel Sablan expressed concern that the MOU allowing use of GWHS did not follow the intent of the new law. "It says unused classrooms," he said, as opposed to the classrooms initially intended for use at GWHS.

"It also explains that three members of the board have to be there to approve it," Guam Teacher Union Board representative Tim Fedenko added.

Sablan said he saw the MOU was signed by Won Pat and GEB Chair Judith Guthertz.

According to Leon Guerrero, Won Pat was able to draft the MOU with SIFA using her emergency authority, which "says emergency use in any emergency situation. Any facility may be used at the discretion of the superintendent of education for the continuity of educational services."

GEB Vice Chair Mary Okada clarified that the board does not have jurisdiction over contracts, noting its responsibility is policy, as she drew attention back to Policy 620.

However, the proposed revision of the policy was tabled after Fedenko expressed concern that it may conflict with Public Law 38-66.

Meanwhile, board member Ron McNinch said 17 GCA 3135 gives the board full authorization to lease properties.

The statute sets lease amounts for any GDOE property leased to an "educational institution or instrumentality of the Government of Guam." It states the property shall "not be leased below 60% of the appraised value of the property."

The law further states that if the lessee is a charter school approved to operate by the Guam Charter School Council, "lease payments may be derived from legislative appropriations or existing funds available to expend for rental payments."

The board's role under the law is to "require lessees to prove financial ability to pay for rent for the duration of the lease term, and the ability to improve and maintain to meet sanitary permit requirements."

With the land ownership questions still unresolved and Policy 620 revisions tabled, it remains unclear whether SIFA's Aug. 17 target at Chief Brodie will hold.