New schools chief expected by June as search advances

The state Board of Education still anticipates hiring a new schools superintendent by June 30 despite setbacks over the last two weeks that saw a former board member submit and then withdraw his name from consideration.

After briefly halting the search earlier this month, the job opening was posted a week ago, citing a salary “in the range of $240,000.” The board is accepting applications until April 6.

Executive search firm Ray and Associates will screen applicants and provide the board’s search committee with up to 10 candidates to interview, according to an update provided Tuesday to BOE members. The search committee — BOE Chairman Lance Mizumoto and board members Patricia Bergin and Kenneth Uemura — will conduct the interviews, while its 12-member advisory group will be asked to evaluate candidates using recordings of the interviews.

The advisory group is made up of individuals representing various stakeholder groups, including special education, teachers, parents, school administrators, Hawaiian educators, charter schools, military, business and higher education.

After the initial round of interviews, the search committee is scheduled to present up to three finalists in a report to the full board at an April 26 meeting. The board will then interview the final candidates May 11, Mizumoto wrote in a memorandum that was submitted to the board Tuesday. His memo says the finalist will not be announced until he or she has signed a contract.

Mizumoto also addressed the controversy over retired public school principal Darrel Galera’s decision to resign from the board to apply for the superintendent position, calling the series of events unfortunate.

The board was forced to suspend the search after the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation said it was pulling back a $50,500 grant it had awarded to help the BOE hire a search firm, citing concerns about the “integrity” of the search.

Galera later rescinded his application after complaints surfaced that he had an unfair advantage as a former BOE member and friend of Gov. David Ige. The foundation has since said it will resume its financial support.

“When former board member Galera announced his resignation to the board, it came as a complete surprise to us. His announcement to apply for the superintendent job was also a complete surprise to us,” Mizumoto said.

He added that the search process was compromised when Galera publicly announced his intent to apply for the position.

“The moment that a person makes his or her intent public could’ve potentially discouraged others from applying, and we wanted to make sure that the process was preserved. There should have been confidentiality with regards to applications, and that was not adhered to,” Mizumoto said.

“And while we respect Mr. Galera’s credentials, his past experience, his contributions to the board and his contributions to the education community at large, the process, again, was compromised, and we just cannot create an unfair landscape for any other candidate that could potentially be interested in applying for the job.”

Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said the union has serious concerns about a private organization appearing to control the search.

“Despite the foundation’s long record of funding public-education initiatives, no private entity should be able to decide who the next superintendent will be by controlling the process’s purse strings,” Rosenlee testified at Tuesday’s meeting. “Until the Castle Foundation or any foundation is removed as a funding source for the search, stakeholders will justifiably be worried that a foundation’s leaders have the power over (deciding) who the candidate should be.”

Mizumoto and other board members defended the foundation as strictly a funding source with no decision-making authority or influence.

“No one here is a rubber stamp for anyone,” said BOE Vice Chairman Brian De Lima.