Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi for a third straight year received high marks on her annual performance evaluation by the state Board of Education.

Matayoshi was rated in the following three areas:

>> Overall rating — exceeds expectations (second-highest rating on a five-point scale)

>> Overall management abilities — exceeds expectations

>> Performance objectives and program accomplishments — fully meets expectations

“The superintendent and her team (set) high expectations for the department, and (have) continued to collaborate with the board, schools and community on advancing these goals,” BOE Chairman Lance Mizumoto said in a statement.

As superintendent, she oversees the 10th-largest school district in the nation, with 180,000 students enrolled at 256 schools. The Department of Education is the state’s largest department, with a nearly $1 billion payroll and 22,000 salaried employees.

Some of the accomplishments cited in her review over the past year include reducing open cases of employees placed on leave during investigations of wrongdoing; launching efforts to review and revise the joint DOE-BOE strategic plan; establishing new offices for Hawaiian education and community engagement; implementation of a three-phase project to compile a comprehensive inventory of all DOE facilities; expansion of free-meal and summer-meal programs; and securing several competitive grants.

Matayoshi called her evaluation reassuring.

“The department continues to work hard in transforming public education. This rating is reassuring feedback that we are on the right track, and a reflection of the high performance and dedication of the department’s leadership team, administrators, teachers and students,” she said in a statement. “We will continue to strive higher and remain student-focused in our decision making and planning.”

Matayoshi took over as acting superintendent in January 2010 and was officially appointed to the position nine months later; however, she did not receive a three-year contract until June 2011. The Board of Education in June 2014 extended her contract for another three years.

The department has made the superintendent’s evaluation public. You can view it at 808ne.ws/2cfan2u.