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The Federal Programs Division of the Guam Department of Education has confirmed that the student allowance for school supplies has been increased.
On August 12, parents will only have to send their students to school with a backpack.
Public school officials had previously allocated $100 per GDOE student, but Federal Programs Division administrator Ike Santos said the allocation had been increased to more than $150.
The increase means the GDOE will provide approximately $4.2 million in federal funds to meet the educational supply needs of 28,000 public school students.
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Joseph Sanchez said, “It just means schools will have more numbers throughout the year.”
Funding for school supplies comes from several pots of COVID-19 relief funds – the Education Stabilization Fund, ESF II and the US Bailout. The money, however, will not be spent all at once.
“Schools don’t usually place orders for the whole year at first. Otherwise, they’ll have to stockpile all the supplies,” Sanchez said. “So they will place most orders now (or have already), but will order more later in the semester.”
The allowances will cover school supplies normally requested by teachers at the start of the school year.
Relief for parents, teachers
GDOE officials said they wanted to ease the burden of back-to-school shopping for parents, who spend about $40 to $80 on school supplies for their children.
Educational supplies to be provided by the GDOE include paper, pens, pencils, notebooks and folders.
Student supply needs were identified at school level by teachers and procurement began last year.
“Teachers will also receive a voucher for teaching supplies so they can purchase teaching supplies for their classroom needs,” Santos said.
Each GDOE teacher will receive $1,000 as part of the department’s efforts to prevent teachers from dipping into their personal finances to meet classroom needs.
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