BOE plans to hire new schools chief by summer

The state Board of Education is aiming to have a new schools chief in place by the summer under a search timeline and process the board unanimously adopted Tuesday.

The contract for Kathryn Matayoshi, who has held the title of superintendent since 2010, is set to end June 30. Despite receiving positive performance evaluations, the board announced in October that Matayoshi’s contract would not be renewed and formed a special committee of board members to come up with a search process.

The board is charged under the state Constitution with formulating statewide educational policy and appointing the superintendent of education as chief executive officer of the public school system.

Board Chairman Lance Mizumoto said at the time that the state has an opportunity to move public education in a new direction, citing a new strategic plan and changes under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. He said Tuesday that the move is neither personal nor politically motivated.

There has been speculation that Gov. David Ige, who has now appointed all but one of the board’s nine voting members, was behind the decision, but the governor has denied any involvement.

Mizumoto said he’s disappointed that some have “personalized” the issue.

“There has been some efforts to personalize this … and I would like to see that stop,” he said. “I would also again reiterate and reinforce the fact that as a board we unanimously voted to conduct this search.”

BOE member Bruce Voss echoed the comments and said the board needs to focus on hiring the best possible superintendent.

“This decision was made by this board. It was not made by anyone else. It was not influenced by anyone else,” he said. “It was made by us, and we did it in what we believe to be in the best interest of the children.”

Mizumoto will chair a search committee that will include board members Kenneth Uemura and Patricia Bergin.

The committee was authorized to hire an executive search firm to assist. Community donors, including the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, Kamehameha Schools and the Learning Coalition, have been approached to provide the funding for a search firm.

Under the adopted search process, the committee will begin forming an advisory group to weigh in on recommended candidates. The group can include individuals representing students, parents, teachers, school administrators, school staff, Hawaiian education, charter schools, early education, higher education, the military and education nonprofits.

The board will then craft a job description and solicit applications between February and April. The search committee is scheduled to recommend at least two finalists to the full board in May for action in June.

Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said he hopes teachers will play a key role on the advisory committee.

He acknowledged some of Matayoshi’s accomplishments in written testimony but said that “our schools demand a commitment to change,” citing needed improvements with teacher retention and recruitment, national reading and science test scores, and college completion rates.

“HSTA hopes that when selecting the new superintendent, the BOE will emphasize extensive experience as a teacher and administrator,” Rosenlee said. “We also believe that the BOE should seek a superintendent who embraces the flexibility afforded by (the Every Student Succeeds Act).”

The federal legislation, which replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, devolves federal control over public education to states when it comes to school accountability, teacher evaluations, student testing and support for struggling schools. It is scheduled to take effect for the 2017-18 school year.

Soon after the law’s passage a year ago, Ige assembled a group of volunteers and charged them with coming up with an education “blueprint” to help guide a revamping of the public school system. Ige dubbed his task group the Governor’s ESSA Team, but he asked members to go beyond the scope of the federal law in drafting the blueprint, which is still being finalized.

Rosenlee said any new superintendent should be charged with helping implement that plan.

“In 2010 the people of Hawaii approved an appointed Board of Education, entrusting our governor with direct responsibility for educational improvement,” Rosenlee said. The governor, “in turn, has outlined his vision for our education system by establishing an ESSA task force, which has engaged thousands of teachers, parents, students and community members in crafting a long-term blueprint for the islands’ public education system. To empower our governor to uplift our schools, we must ensure that the next superintendent will faithfully implement the ESSA blueprint that Gov. Ige authorized.”