American Samoa's Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga has instructed his cabinet to spend this week going out to their designated schools under the Adopt-A-School Initiative to make sure they are cleaned, safe and ready for the beginning of the new school year.
Fourteen government and six private schools have been cited by the Department of Health for unsanitary and unsafe conditions and cannot be opened if they're not cleaned up.
The public schools are Leone Midkiff Elementary, Pava'ia'i Elementary, Tafuna High School, Tafuna Elementary, Manulele Junior High, Lupelele Elementary, Samoana High School, Le'atele Elementary, and Coleman Elementary school.
American Samoa Governor Lolo Moliga. Photo: RNZI Monica Miller
The private schools cited are South Pacific Academy, Pacific Horizons, Peteli Academy, Kananafou, and St Theresa.
The first day of school for the 2015/ 2016 school year is August 27th.
With the dengue fever outbreak still in progress, the governor says if schools that are cited are not cleaned up they cannot be opened until they have passed an inspection by the Department of Health.