Leverage value of surplus school lands to improve education

What some consider a twin of the controversial and now-repealed Public Land Development Corp. — House Bill 865, Relating to Public School Redevelopment — truly is a necessary evil needed in this time of movement toward 21st century schools.

As principal of Jefferson Elementary School in Waikiki, I know first-hand the value that 15 acres of prime real estate holds. That being said, I truly believe the intent of HB 865 is something essential to ensure that our state and our children have the greatest opportunity to leverage land to improve education.

As everyone knows, we live on an island. Given that fact, land and the limited amount of open space left are our greatest asset. If we look at Jefferson Elementary as an example, our campus is vast, which is something I appreciate and admire. However, much of that unused space is exactly that — unused. With budgets tight, and costs associated with school development and redevel-

opment high, much of the space on campus will remain open and unused. To our surrounding neighbors and community, that is probably looked at as being vital and important. But to our students, without the ability to fund necessary infrastructure improvements — especially around technology upgrades, classroom modifications and regular repair and maintenance of aging structures — open space does us no good.

Growing up and raised on Maui, I will be the first to tell you that I love looking out from my office and being able to scan from Diamond Head toward the Ewa end of Waikiki across the campus landscape. But having traveled around the world and being exposed to other metropolitan cities, where going vertical is the norm and open land space is preserved without compromising innovation and forward-thinking, HB 865 truly is the saving grace for our Department of Education and our school-age children.

In a few years, Jefferson Elementary and other DOE schools across the state will still be in operation, albeit a few years older. With that comes the increasing cost of repair and maintenance, retrofitting rooms and offices to keep up with technology advancement, and the need to take facilities designed in the 1940s and ’50s into the 2020s and 2030s. How will that be funded? Raise taxes? Increase fees? Or, look to leverage the value of the land that schools sit on to ensure that our children are given the necessary learning environment to allow them to compete with growing economies such as China, and strong educational systems throughout Asia and Europe?

I was once told that change is the only constant. Without forward-thinking and appropriate management of the resources we hold, we do our community and our students a disservice. We owe it to them — our future — to ensure that when they set foot on a school campus, it is an environment that is cutting-edge and results-driven, yet one that hasn’t required their parents to pay one penny more in taxes or fees — money they keep to enjoy other things in life.

HB 865 has my support. Not because I want Jefferson Elementary to be a school redeveloped (because certainly there are a lot more discussions to take place on that). I support it because it will ensure that the department can do the job with which we we have been entrusted with funds we never had (and probably never will). This requires forward-thinking, and I commend the Legislature and the executive branch for taking this step. I mua Hawaii.

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On vacation: “Under the Sun” columnist Cynthia Oi is on vacation.