Ige pick quits schools board to seek superintendent’s seat

Former public school principal Darrel Galera resigned from the state Board of Education on Monday and said he will apply for the superintendent job the board is seeking to fill.

Galera spent 32 years with the Department of Education, including 13 years as principal of Moanalua High School, before retiring at the end of 2013. He also previously served as principal at King Intermediate, Aiea Elementary and Castle High, and vice principal at Washington Middle and Radford High.

Gov. David Ige appointed Galera to the school board in October to fill a vacancy. The governor also tapped Galera last year to lead a 19-member advisory team he tasked with developing a “blueprint” to overhaul the state’s public school system.

Galera said his work with the governor’s task group helped guide his decision to seek the superintendent post. The plan envisions a school system that better prepares students for an innovation-driven economy and better supports teachers while empowering school leaders and targeting resources at the school level.

“The most asked question we got was, How will we make the vision of the education blueprint a reality? It’s clearly on the top of everyone’s mind in terms of whether we’re just going through an exercise,” Galera told the Honolulu Star-­Advertiser. “I hope as many people apply as possible who want to help make the vision real.”

Before joining the Board of Education, Galera had been an outspoken critic of Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi, whose term ends June 30. In 2014 he criticized the department’s leadership after a survey he helped conduct of more than 100 DOE principals showed widespread discontent with the state’s centralized system of governance.

Galera — who said he applied to be superintendent when former schools chief Pat Hamamoto retired at the end of 2009 — said he only recently considered applying for the position.

“My focus has been on getting the blueprint done. It was only until recently that I gave it any thought,” he said. “It was unexpected that the governor would ask me to be chair of the blueprint team. The vacancy on the board was unexpected. My appointment to the board was unexpected.”

About a week after Ga­lera was named to the board in October, the BOE announced that Mata­yoshi’s contract wouldn’t be renewed. The board’s chairman said at the time that the state has an opportunity to move public education in a new direction, citing a revised strategic plan and changes under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

Galera headed a special subcommittee that came up with the search process the board will use to find Matayoshi’s replacement. He did not, however, serve on the three-member search committee that is leading the recruitment effort.

Under a search process the board adopted last year, the search committee will approve a job description and post the position this week. It will solicit applications through April and recommend at least two finalists to the full board in May.

“After deep reflection I think it’s best for me to resign,” Galera said. “The board is about to start making decisions about the process and about the job applications. I think it’s best for everyone that the board can do its work free from distraction.”