New Board Of Ed Called ‘Unavailable, Inaccessible’
We’re only three meetings in, but the new appointed Hawaii State Board of Education is already being accused of discouraging public participation in its meetings.
Maralyn Kurshals, the Leeward representative on the former elected board, told Gov. Neil Abercrombie‘s appointees at a Tuesday board meeting that she believes the board’s policies have made it harder for people to be involved in the policymaking process. She cited three reasons:
- Holding meetings only at the downtown Honolulu board offices isolates the board from what is happening in schools.
- Scheduling meetings early in the day makes it difficult for students and the working public to attend and submit testimony.
- Restricting public testimony to only items that are on the meeting agenda makes it difficult for the community to raise concerns about issues the board may not know about.
“One piece we as the elected board did that was very significant was to be in schools for some of our public meetings,” Kurshals told the board. “Eliminating those visits to schools is a serious detriment to (Board of Education) itself and to the schools.”
She added that it is ironic that the board schedules its meetings early in the day (committee meetings begin at 9:30 a.m. and general business meetings begin at 1:30 p.m.) because it means the student representative will have to miss school in order to make most of them.
After Kurshals’s testimony, the interim student representative reported that the Hawaii State Student Council had also raised concerns about the earlier meeting times.
When Chairman Don Horner asked Kurshals to connect her public testimony to an agenda item, Kurshals retorted that such a policy is “extremely restrictive.”
As boring as it may be to listen to people rant and drone by turns, she said, it’s an important component to the public process.
Earlier in the meeting, Horner reprimanded other testifiers for speaking on non-agenda topics.
“This is my first time sitting on this side of this table,” Kurshals said. “I’m not saying this because of any sour grapes, but the structure of this board seems to limit availability, accessibility and connection with the community. Some of the most profound learning experiences I had in my four months on the board were from public testimony and visiting schools. You cannot work in a vacuum.”
Horner replied that he and other board members have spent significant time in schools and at various public meetings to connect with the community.
“I’m in schools all the time,” said board member Nancy Budd, adding that she doesn’t think the appointed board is out of touch.
Board member Brian DeLima said he talks about schools and education issues with constituents wherever he goes.
“Everyone has an experience with education, so you’re constantly getting feedback from people you meet each day,” DeLima said.
