Committee Postpones Vote on School Consolidations
A Hawaii State Board of Education committee postponed a vote on three school consolidations Monday after hearing public concern that proper procedures were ignored.
The Committee on Administrative Services deferred its vote after listening to an hour-and-a-half of testimony opposing the recommended closures of Kalihi, Puuhale and Queen Lydia Liliuokalani elementary schools. Much of the testimony had been shared before, during the public hearings that are a mandatory part of the consolidation process.
Several who testified raised concerns that the board and the Department of Education did not follow all the steps in that process, though.
The require the board to authorize a public hearing to be held within 60 days of its receipt of the school consolidation study from the Department of Education. In the case of Queen Liliuokalani Elementary, the board received the study on Sept. 16, and the hearing wasn’t held until Dec. 13 — nearly 90 days later.
And Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi‘s recommendations should have been received by the board within 30 days of the public hearings. Matayoshi did not submit her recommendations until Jan. 31, though — nearly 50 days later.
“The DOE and BOE’s actions indicate that they feel they are above the law,” testified Jan Bullock, the parent of a first-grader at Queen Liliuokalani. “We expect our children to follow the rules, and we don’t condone that behavior.”
On Monday, board spokesman Alex Da Silva told Civil Beat that the board acted in the spirit of the administrative rules throughout the process, giving parents and community members ample opportunity to testify. Until now, the Board of Education had not responded to allegations that it broke the law.
“A violation of the rule would have occurred if the board fast-tracked the proposal without public input,” he wrote in an e-mail to Civil Beat after the meeting. “The board has provided and continues to offer the public a number of opportunities to testify for or against any consolidation study — even more time than the rule requires. This afternoon’s meeting was recessed for that very reason — to give the public and the Board additional time to analyze all data in order to arrive at an informed decision in the best interest of students and educators.”
At the meeting, committee chairman John Penebacker recommended postponing a vote on the consolidations until Thursday, Feb. 24.
“We’ll talk to our staff and we’ll be looking into all the legal and non-issues raised today,” he said.
Department officials have already responded to some of the allegations about rule-breaking, though.
School facilities overseer Randy Moore said he consulted with the Attorney General’s office after the same concerns were raised at the December hearings.
“They told me that there was essentially no effect,” Moore said. “Nobody was injured, so basically, no harm, no foul.”
