Hawaii Department of Education Superintendent Christina Kishimoto joined the COVID-19 Care Conversation today to take viewer questions about the DOE’s plans in the wake of the coronavirus.

Kishimoto said DOE is moving ahead with plans for summer school, but announced that traditional graduation ceremonies for the class of 2020 will not go on.

“We are replacing commencement ceremonies with alternative ceremonies, using the same general schedule for the second half of may when we would have been having those celebrations,” she said. “We’ll use multiple means including e-conferencing and for the smaller schools, opportunities to do some kind of drive-thru opportunity to take a photo and pickup a diploma.”

The details of each school’s commencement ceremony plan will be rolled out next week by each school principal. The DOE will release a master schedule for all schools by next week on their website.

Kishimoto said the DOE recently released a document that included language about a four week of no new cases standard to reopen schools, but says that is not a mandate from the state DOE.

Kishimoto said she plans to hold a Friday press conference to discuss specifics of what the rest of the school year will look like, and when students might be able to return to school.

On the issue of proposed pay cuts for public employees, including teachers, Kishimoto said she expects to revisit the department’s budget, but she has not received any guidance from the state Budget and Finance Office on what, if any, specific cuts DOE employees will face.

Watch here and comment through our Facebook Page. Be sure to join us Thursday when Lt. Gov. Josh Green will be our guest.

UPCOMING GUESTS

Thursday, April 16:

>> Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green

Friday, April 17:

>> Therapist Britt Young

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Join COVID-19 Care Conversation, sponsored by Hawai’i Executive Collaborative, live every weekday at 10:30 a.m. on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Facebook page. Yunji de Nies and Ryan Kalei Tsuji will discuss the latest news, resources and community concerns about the coronavirus outbreak in Hawaii.