Hawaii Board of Education approves superintendent’s $240,000 annual contract

The formal contract officially making Keith Hayashi the next state superintendent of Hawaii’s massive public school system was approved Thursday by the state Board of Education.

In separate actions, the board also elected Damien “Kaimana” Barcarse its new vice chair and added its approval to previously bargained salary increases for principals and other school leaders.

Hayashi’s contract is for a three-year term retroactive to July 1, with an annual salary of $240,000, the same salary earned by his predecessor, Christina Kishimoto. The state Legislature has set the maximum compensation for the state superintendent at $250,000.

“The board is very pleased to have this contract behind us, and we look forward to developing a good working relationship of trust and respect with both the superintendent and his team,” board Chair Bruce Voss said after the meeting.

The Hawaii superintendent’s salary is markedly lower than that for the leaders of comparably sized mainland school districts. For the superintendent leading the school district in Orange County, Calif., for instance, the base pay tops $300,000. In Hillsborough, Fla., it’s $310,0000.

Hawaii has the nation’s only statewide school system, and it is widely considered the 10th-largest school system in the U.S., with 257 regular public schools, 37 charter schools, 171,000 students, 42,600 full-time and part-time employees, and an annual operating budget of more than $2 billion.

Among immediate next steps for Hayashi will be cementing his leadership team and driving the complex process of creating and implementing a new strategic plan for the public school system. The last strategic plan was meant to cover 2017-20; creation of a new one was delayed by the pandemic and rifts between the board and the previous state superintendent.

Hayashi, a career Hawaii public schools teacher and administrator, became principal of Waipahu High in 2009, and served as interim deputy state superintendent from March to June 2017 and as interim state superintendent in July 2017.

In August, Hayashi again took on the job of interim state superintendent, with a $210,000 salary, after Kishimoto declined to seek a renewal of her contract after four years. The board took most of the past school year to plan and conduct a national search for the next state superintendent. In May, Hayashi bested two other finalists and secured an 8-1 board vote to land the job on a permanent basis.

Hayashi’s contract requires annual formal evaluations by the board, but “the board has the right to evaluate and assess superintendent’s performance on an informal and continuous basis,” the contract says.

Meanwhile, the nine- member volunteer board also elected board member Barcarse to succeed Kenneth Uemura as vice chair. Barcarse would be second in command behind Voss, who was appointed chair by Gov. David Ige.

Barcarse, who has worked for 18 years in education, represents Hawaii County on the BOE. He serves as the West Hawaii regional director for Kamehameha Schools and is also a radio deejay and program producer of “Alana i Kai Hikina,” a radio show that broadcasts entirely in Hawaiian on KWXX-FM.

The board also approved new memberships and leaders for its committees, including:

>> Student Achievement Committee: Chair Kili Na­mau‘u and Vice Chair Bill Arakaki.

>> Finance and Infrastructure Committee: Chair Lynn Fallin and Vice Chair Ken Kuraya.

>> Human Resources Committee: Chair Barcarse and Vice Chair Shanty Asher.

A tentative agreement on pay increases for bargaining unit 6 of the Hawaii Government Employees Association also was approved by the board. That unit has almost 1,000 members, according to the HGEA website, and it includes principals, vice principals, athletic directors and some other school administrators.

The tentative agreement calls for a 1% bonus lump-sum payment for most unit 6 members; a 3.71% across-the-board salary increase retroactively effective starting July 1 this year; a 4.6% raise effective July 2023; a one-step adjustment on the salary schedule in January 2024; a 2.6% raise effective July 2024; and another one-step adjustment in January 2025.

Unit 6 members ratified the tentative agreement April 11. State law requires that to execute a collective bargaining agreement for unit 6, the governor has three votes, the BOE has two and the superintendent has one.