Matayoshi given middling grade

The Board of Education Tuesday gave Schools Superintendent Kathryn Mata­yo­shi an overall rating of "fully meets expectations" in her first evaluation since being appointed to the position in September 2010.

Board members declined to elaborate on how they arrived at the midlevel rating, citing personnel confidentiality issues.

But the evaluation appears to reflect both the strides — and turbulence — the department has gone through under Mata­yo­shi’s tenure, from rising test scores this year to a black eye last year when the state’s competitive Race to the Top grant was put on "high-risk" status because of lack of prog­ress.

There are five possible ratings under the evaluation system: exceptional, exceeds expectations, fully meets expectations, needs improvement and unsatisfactory.

The evaluation included a set of objectives for the coming school year which Mata­yo­shi said involve implementing the targets of the department’s new strategic plan.

She said her primary push through the next 12 months will be making sure the "strategic plan is the focus of everyone’s work."

This is the first time the board is evaluating Mata­yo­shi because while she took over as acting superintendent in January 2010, and was officially appointed to the position nine months later, she did not receive a three-year contract until June 2011.

The contract lag was due in large part to the transition from an elected to an appointed board.

Matayoshi earns $150,000 a year to lead the 10th-largest school district in the nation. She has taken a 5 percent pay cut, like all other department personnel.

As superintendent, Mata­yo­shi has overseen big changes to the public education system, from the implementation of more rigorous standards, tougher requirements for a high school diploma, longer school days for low-performing schools along the Wai­anae Coast and in the Kau-Keaau-Pahoa complex of Hawaii island, and a restructuring of the administration aimed at streamlining responsibilities and accountability.

Also during her tenure, in August 2010, Hawaii was awarded a $75 million federal Race to the Top grant aimed at making sweeping education improvements, including boosting student achievement and improving teacher effectiveness.

Hawaii has struggled to implement portions of the grant’s goals, and in December was put on notice by the federal government: If real prog­ress wasn’t made, officials warned, the grant would be taken away. By May, after a visit, the U.S. Department of Education acknowledged improvements but said more prog­ress was needed to emerge from "high-risk" status.

Matayoshi has also led the department amid a labor dispute with teachers, which began in July 2011, after the state imposed a contract offer with wage reductions and higher health insurance premiums.

Board member Jim Williams, chairman of the Human Resources Committee, said the evaluation represents the first year of Mata­yo­shi’s contract.

The evaluation template used to rate Mata­yo­shi is one produced by the Department of Human Resources Development for executives at other state departments. That’s a departure from previous years under the elected board, which used its own evaluation system.