Board of Education committee names 3 finalists for superintendent of Hawaii’s public schools

The three finalists in the search for Hawaii’s next public schools superintendent were revealed Friday, and as had been widely expected, they include Keith Hayashi, who has served as interim superintendent since August.

Also named as finalists were Darrel Galera, a veteran Hawaii public schools educator and former state Board of Education member, and Caprice Young, president of Education Growth Group in Los Angeles.

This is at least the second time Galera has been in the running for the state superintendent job. In 2017 the retired public school principal resigned from the BOE to apply, then withdrew his application amid complaints he had an unfair advantage as a former board member and friend of Gov. David Ige.

Galera’s 40 years of service to Hawaii’s public schools also include posts as deputy district superintendent for Leeward Oahu, principal of Moanalua High School and chair of the governor’s Every Student Succeeds Act team, which was tasked with creating the Hawaii Blueprint for Public Education plan.

Hayashi’s 33-year career with the state Department of Education includes numerous positions at the school, complex and state levels, including complex-area superintendent and interim state deputy superintendent. As principal of Waipahu High School since 2009, Hayashi was Hawaii High School Principal of the Year and has been credited with helping Waipahu become the state’s first nationally recognized wall-to-wall academy model school.

His service as interim state superintendent through a school year in the COVID-19 pandemic has been viewed by many as an unofficial tryout for the permanent job.

Young leads the Education Growth Foundation, which provides consulting services focused on strategic planning for and with education and technology organizations. She is also national superintendent of the nonprofit Lifelong Learning and Learn4Life Schools in California, according to her resume.

Young said in her cover letter to the BOE that she has a strong connection to Hawaii’s culture through members of her immediate family, including her parents, who have lived and worked here.

“The search committee was in agreement that these finalists all met the broad competencies we are looking for,” BOE Chair Catherine Payne, who has led the superintendent search committee, said in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “Each has individual areas of greater strength, which were also noted in the comments of our advisory group. This will be a challenging decision for the full board. We had hoped for several strong candidates, and they came forward.”

Payne’s Search Committee report said it started with a field of 35 applicants and arrived at three finalists following input from its advisory group of stakeholders, focus groups, key legislative committee chairs and BOE members.

The committee will formally present the names of the finalists at the BOE’s general business meeting on Thursday and adopt a detailed process for interviewing them.

A special meeting May 19 will be dedicated to interviewing the finalists, and the board will also deliberate their merits, all in a public format. The board might vote at that meeting to recommend one person, Payne has said.

The BOE is expected to give final approval to the next permanent superintendent on June 16.

Public testimony on the candidates is invited. To sign up to present oral testimony and/or find the procedures for submitting written testimony, visit the BOE website at boe.hawaii.gov.