Superintendent Keith Hayashi promised state legislators late last year that he would reform the Department of Education鈥檚 approach to managing school facilities. DOE had just proposed relinquishing nearly half a billion in construction funds, and state leaders wanted greater accountability from school leaders in the new year. 

Now the Hawaii Board of Education is holding Hayashi accountable in his annual review. Hayashi has identified overall real estate optimization, a strategy to improve DOE鈥檚 management of facilities and school lands, as one of his top priorities for the 2023-24 school year.

In a to the board last week, he said he鈥檚 making effective progress on the so-called “OREO” plan. But some educational leaders say they want more details on Hayashi鈥檚 work and remain concerned the department is moving in the wrong direction when it comes to overseeing over 260 campuses across the state. 

Board members will conduct their own review of Hayashi鈥檚 performance in the 2023-24 school year next month. The BOE holds the power to hire and regularly evaluate superintendents, and Hayashi鈥檚 current contract lasts until the end of June 2025 and sets his annual salary at $240,000.  

OREO consists of two areas of improvement: better managing projects to build and repair school facilities and developing and investing in more DOE lands. 

The department typically has three years to spend its construction funds but can take several months to award bids to contractors, resulting in delayed projects and unused money. At the same time, Hawaii’s student population has steadily declined over the past decade, pushing state leaders to close small schools and consider how they can repurpose empty campuses. 

鈥淭he groundwork is especially important as we face some significant challenges ahead,鈥� Hayashi said in last week’s BOE meeting. Over the past year, he said, DOE has completed an inventory of its properties across the state. 

Hayashi is optimistic that OREO is the answer to the department鈥檚 continued struggles to maintain hundreds of campuses and nearly 21 million square feet of land across the state. But other educational leaders have responded with skepticism. 

In a December BOE meeting, former member Lauren Moriarty questioned why Hayashi had chosen OREO as one of his top goals in his annual evaluation. While DOE provided regular updates on Hayashi鈥檚 other priorities, like workforce development and the recovery of Lahaina schools, Moriarty said she had only learned about OREO hours before the meeting and was unsure of the plan’s specifics.  

She proposed to remove OREO as one of Hayashi’s top priorities in his evaluation but didn鈥檛 receive enough support from her fellow board members do that.  

Wesley Lo, who joined the board earlier this summer and chairs the Human Resources Committee, said he鈥檚 glad DOE is taking inventory of its land and is considering how it can complete its construction projects more efficiently moving forward. But he said he would like to see more specifics on what the department hopes to achieve through OREO.

Other board members echoed Lo鈥檚 sentiments last week as they praised Hayashi鈥檚 self-evaluation but asked for more details and data on the work he鈥檚 completed. 

鈥淏ottom line, we鈥檙e here to support you,鈥� said board member Kaimana Barcase. 

While OREO is a relatively new term for the department, school leaders have struggled to execute similar initiatives for over a decade.

In 2013, the Legislature created a directing DOE to lease some of its unused properties to private developers, who would invest in the land and create projects like workforce housing. The money DOE generated through its leases could then go toward maintaining and upgrading school campuses.

鈥淭he school campus must be designed from its inception with student achievement in mind to maximize available land and student safety,鈥� the law said. 鈥淢ost of Hawaii鈥檚 school campuses fall short in these areas.鈥� 

But the department faced delays in starting the pilot and identifying potential sites to lease to developers. Frustrated lawmakers created the School Facilities Authority in 2020 and transferred the project over to the new entity. 

DOE still has the ability to purchase and lease its lands, said SFA Executive Director Riki Fujitani, but it鈥檚 now the agency鈥檚 responsibility to work with private developers to turn unused properties into projects like teacher housing.

鈥淭he opportunity is staggering,鈥� Fujitani said, pointing to a similar project for graduate student housing that the University of Hawaii recently completed with private companies. 

Rep. Amy Perruso said she worries that OREO is moving the department in the wrong direction, adding that private companies shouldn鈥檛 have a claim on public school lands. Earlier this year, senators introduced a bill that would have dissolved the SFA and required DOE to take on the agency’s projects and responsibilities, including leasing land to private developers. 

The bill ultimately failed, with some representatives questioning DOE鈥檚 ability to oversee more construction projects and pointing out that it鈥檚 rare for schools to manage the private investment and development of their lands. 

Hayashi has other challenges he needs to prioritize, Perruso said, pointing to the state鈥檚 school bus driver shortage and deteriorating campus facilities. 

鈥淗e鈥檚 being distracted by this conversation around privatization of public school lands,鈥� Perruso said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not his job.鈥�

Civil Beat鈥檚 education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.