Hawaii Public Schools Ask for $1.8 billion, Plus $29 million ‘Wish List’
The Hawaii says it needs $1.81 billion to run the state’s public schools system in each of the next two fiscal years — up almost 10 percent from current levels.1
DOE Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi shared her department’s budget request for fiscal 2012 and 2013 at a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The DOE typically makes up a quarter of the state’s general fund spending annually.
Matayoshi seemed optimistic the school system could operate smoothly if it gets the $1.8 billion — including $1.38 billion from the state’s general fund. But she warned lawmakers there could be real costs down the line tied to the decision last session to mandate more classroom instruction hours. She also shared a “wish list” totaling $29.2 million, most of which would go toward funding bus services for students.
“Being such a large department, there’s always a possibility that we’ll have to share the burden of budget cuts,” Matayoshi said after the hearing. She said balancing any cuts would have to come from eliminating programs and jobs, and said the DOE also is looking at consolidating campuses to save money.
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It costs the state about $2.1 billion to run the Hawaii Department of Education. Of that, $1.65 billion is located in the current year’s education budget. The other $450 million of the education system’s operational expenses are located in the Hawaii Department of Budget and Finance budget as “pass through” expenses such as health care and pension. (Read more about education funding here.)
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The request is up 9.7 percent from the $1.65 billion budget approved for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The main explanation for the increase is that state funds are needed to make up for what has been paid for by federal stimulus money and because furloughs have ended. This year ending furloughs is being covered by special funds.
Matayoshi said $991 million of the budget is spent at the school level. While the request has increased, the DOE says its budget took a combined $244 million hit from reductions that started in fiscal 2008 through the current year.
Here’s a look at the main chunks of the department’s budget request just for general funds:
| Budget category | Fiscal 2012 and 2013 (identical budget requests) |
Fiscal 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom instruction | $791.4 million | $705.2 million |
| Special education, behavioral health | $322.2 million | $306.6 million |
| Instructional support | $46.2 million | $22 million |
| State administration, Board of Education, IT | $43.7 million | $42.9 million |
| Food services, utilities, student transportation | $174.2 million | $171.8 million |
| A+ Program and Adult education | $5.1 million | $4.9 million |
| Total | $1.38 billion | $1.25 billion |
The department’s 2012 operating budget includes $86.4 million that’s been “restored” by the Department of Budget and Finance since furloughs ended.
“They cut our budget because of furloughs last year, and we were able to fill it with $20 million in (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) money, a one-time deal,” Matayoshi told Civil Beat. “This year, they’ve put that $86 million back into our base budget.”
The DOE shared a wish list of “general fund items for consideration,” which includes:
- $1.5 million for athletics.
- $5 million for lease payments for a new Enterprise Resource Planning project — the DOE’s financial management system, Matayoshi called “very old.”
- $2.1 million for skilled nursing services previously provided by Department of Health.
- $19.6 million for student transportation (bus service) shortfall. (The DOE said bus fares generate only $3 million in revenue annually, while it costs $70 million to run the system.)
- $1 million for the program.
