School lands bill deserves try

The state stands on the verge of a promising campaign for leveraging the value of school lands for the benefit of public education. This may end up being the only scheme for public-land redevelopment that survives this legislative session, after the repeal of the controversial Public Land Development Corp.

This would not be a bad thing. Many of Hawaii’s schools were developed a half-century or even longer ago and are no longer as suited to the needs of schools today.

Fifty years ago, school design experts now say, the approach was to deliver education using an almost factory-style approach. The process of instruction was replicated in separate, enclosed classrooms, in buildings sprawling over large campuses.

Things have changed, though you would hardly know it from the way Hawaii campuses still look.

Now the thought behind design is to enable a more flexible arrangement for small- and large-group gatherings, with common areas and other elements combining in a more compact way. Further, all schools now must be Internet-capable and have digital connections for the students.

The problem is that Hawaii’s school system is land-rich and cash-poor when it comes to funds that could make a comprehensive school upgrade program possible.

But upgrades could and should result with the passage of legislation encouraging redevelopment of underutilized school property, starting with a pilot program. Money derived from lease rent and other fees would be placed in a school facilities special fund.

House Bill 865 is up for a vote by House and Senate conferees on Thursday. It deserves to emerge and move on to final passage, in a form similar to the current version. The measure is part of Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s "21st century schools" push, an effort to encourage partnerships with private developers to generate some revenue.

As the amended bill takes shape, it is improving: Now it proposes that the state Department of Education oversee the process, instead of the original notion of making 21st century schools a project for the state’s Office of the Lieutenant Governor.

Although neither agency currently has the development infrastructure in place to handle the challenge, it makes more sense that the new initiative be tied most closely to the DOE. The department has at least the inventory of its facility needs and is in the better position to discern how redevelopment should look to support the needs of its students.

Perhaps the final version should most closely resemble the Senate’s version, which would allow up to two projects that would have to be completed within five years. The House favored no time limit and up to five properties for redevelopment. Given that some of the property title is complex — in some cases, the land actually belongs to the city — there are probably very few projects that can be done readily.

And although a five-year timetable seems brief, some kind of deadline is necessary.

State Sen. Jill Tokuda, lead Senate negotiator, said the Legislature needs reasonable boundaries enabling an evaluation of the pilot projects, from start to finish. If the state is to build the larger redevelopment initiative that it needs, good planning will require the data that only completed projects will provide.

There is bound to be resistance to change — school communities such as supporters of Jefferson Elementary School in Waikiki have already expressed their reservations. Nobody’s campus has been selected, so that concern is premature.

And an initial review of only 10 unused parcels provides a reality check: Their total value is estimated at $120 million. The state can’t afford to let this public resource go fallow any longer, especially with the benefits that could go toward school children.

They are supposed to be the primary focus here, after all.