Gov. Neil Abercrombie has named his former chief of staff and a University of Hawaii education professor to serve as interim appointments on the Board of Education, effective July 15.
Amy Asselbaye, who previously served as longtime aide to Abercrombie in Congress and at the state Capitol, was named to the nine-member board’s Oahu seat.
Asselbaye was most recently U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s Hawaii-based chief of staff before resigning last month to devote more time to her position as director of strategic and community development at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.
She had left the Abercrombie administration at the end of his first year in office to spend more time with family.
Asselbaye has served as school community council chairwoman at Wailupe Elementary School and is a parent representative on the school community council for Aina Haina Elementary School, which her three children attended.
Patricia Halagao, an associate professor in curriculum studies at UH-Manoa’s College of Education, was named to an at-large seat.
Halagao, a former Oakland, Calif., public school teacher, was recently awarded the UH Board of Regents Medal for Excellence in Teaching in 2012. She’s also involved with developing educational initiatives for the proposed Obama Presidential Center.
Asselbaye and Halagao replace outgoing members Kim Gennaula and Charlene Cuaresma, whose terms end July 14. The new appointments require confirmation by the state Senate next year.
Gennaula and Cuaresma served on the first board made up of gubernatorial appointees. Voters in 2011 approved a state constitutional amendment that did away with an elected school board.
The BOE has three at-large members as well as three from Oahu and one each from Kauai, Maui and Hawaii island. A nonvoting student representative and military liaison also serve on the voluntary board.
Jannah Dela Cruz was sworn in Tuesday by Hawaii Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald as the student member for the 2013-14 school year.
Dela Cruz — no relation to DOE spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz — will be a senior at Moanalua High and is active in her school’s orchestra.
"The voice of the student representative provides a critical role in the board’s policy process," BOE Chairman Don Horner said in a statement.
She replaces outgoing student member Danicia Honda, a graduate of Pearl City High.
