Panel surveys school land for possible profit

A governor-appointed task force is kicking off an inventory of public schools as part of a plan to identify land that could be leased or re-purposed to generate revenue for school improvements and construction.

By the end of the year, the group hopes to have a list of potential pilot projects.

Such projects would ultimately be handled by the controversial state Public Lands Development Corp., which has drawn hefty criticism in recent months because of the agency’s broad exemptions to land use and county zoning laws.

Opponents of the PLDC, some of whom have called for its dissolution, say they plan to monitor what comes out of the task force.

Members of the 21st Century Schools Initiative task force, meanwhile, stress any work to change how public school property is used would need to garner strong community support — and would need to benefit students.

"It can’t be misconstrued as a commercial land grab," said Ray L’Heu­reux, assistant superintendent of facilities and support services at the Department of Education, who sits on the committee. "It’s leveraging the land the school sits on."

Revenues, he said, "would go into school remodeling, modernizing and rebuilding."

The task force is part of a broader effort to take a new approach to tackling an aging inventory of schools. It also reflects a growing awareness of not only what happens inside schools and classrooms, but also what schools and classrooms look like.

Robert Harris, executive director of the Sierra Club’s Hawaii chapter, said while the goal of improving public school facilities is a good one, the task force must have public support for projects. He also said while he has grave concerns about the PLDC and believes it should be eliminated, the concept of selling or developing public lands is not in itself new or necessarily controversial.

"That’s prudent land management if done right and done well," he said.

But, he added, "I hope that they (the task force) engage the community and ensure that any proposed projects comports with what the community has envisioned."

The Sierra Club is among a number of groups that raised big concerns about the PLDC, namely because it doesn’t have to follow key land use and county laws when shepherding through developments on public lands.

Lois Yamauchi, president of Parents for Public Schools-Hawaii, said that as a parent, she applauds the DOE’s interest in trying to find a different way to fund school repairs or new construction.

But she also urged caution, especially in cases of redevelopments that would involve a for-profit entity.

"It’s complicated, especially if they’re going to be looking at revenue generation," Yama­uchi said.

In addition to L’Heu­reux, members of the task force, convened in July, include Board of Education member Wes Lo; Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs board member Alan Oshima; Kalbert Young, director of the state Department of Budget and Finance; Lloyd Hari­gu­chi, PLDC executive director; and Richard Wacker, president and CEO of American Savings Bank.

There will be an update on the group’s work at the Board of Education’s Finance and Infrastructure Committee meeting Tuesday.

Schools that have closed or will be closed and schools with large unused parcels of land could be among those eyed by the task force.

While no schools have yet been identified as potential sites for redevelopment, BOE Chairman Don Hor­ner has pointed to Jefferson Elementary School as an example of an "underutilized asset." The school sits on more than 15 acres at the gateway to Waikiki.

The BOE also recently expressed interest in restarting a study of whether any small schools should be closed to save money.

The last school to close was Liliu­oka­lani Elementary, which shuttered in May 2011. The DOE currently plans to use the site in Kaimuki for personnel and to house computer servers.

Lo, who is co-chairman of the task force, said the 21st Century Schools Initiative is about making the best use of public school property to benefit kids.

"If there are some idle things around, we should act like a business and use it to the best ability we can," he said. "But it has to be community-driven."

The group’s mission, he said, is about financing a modernization of the DOE’s inventory without "burdening the taxpayer."

The DOE has spent more than a decade trying to tackle its backlogged repairs. And there has been significant progress: In 2003 the price tag for overdue repairs at public schools statewide topped $703 million. This year it’s at $266 million.

But L’Heureux said at some point it doesn’t make sense to fix big problems in old buildings. The average age of Hawaii’s 256 public school campuses is 65.

"Our schools are getting older and not any better," he said. "If we do nothing, it stays the same."