So campuses can have that. So some of it is collaborating and making it at a system level and other parts of it is the different databases we have making sure that we can tap into those and consolidate if that makes sense is two different kinds of challenges to where the data is right now. >> Okay. So So I'm going to rephrase my question. If your guys back was against the wall and this data was prevalent you just didn't have a position to compile and put it all together. Do you think you guys would be able to get all of the data together? If we had all the data in one place, yes. Okay, so It's really a matter of the the sort of reconfiguration of the system architecture and pulling in data from all of these different kinds of sources that And I'm not a I am not a data person.
So, uh, I think we were having a lot of challenges in that area and this is just creating a policy that provides more clarity for us and the families of the community. Is that accurate? >> Correct. >> Okay. >> So, this is the first reading, no action today. >> So, if people have feedback, please contact me, let me know, and then we'll bring this back next month and see where it's at. >> Right. Thank you very much. Community outreach update. Holly, >> I am very excited to share with you. We have two new things that we'll be launching in the next month. One is, and this is response to surveys we received after the referendum and the public opinion survey that was performed by Fallon Research last May. Um, our communication efforts were missing portions of our community and our stakeholder groups. uh specifically non-parents and future parents.
Angler, if I if I heard it correctly, that they haven't filed a RAM report yet. But are they basing your their opinions and uh discussions on the previous RAM report on a project which is not in any way close to the scope of the project that uh that's in front of you folks right now. I I just need some clarification and and uh answers to that. Thank you. I appreciate that. >> Mr. Campbell, you want to speak to that? >> I believe you did the original, right? >> The plan was updated and it's true it's changed over time and the original plan was not 40B. It became 40B. Um the footprint changed, but the most recent status report represents this project. >> So a quick >> Oh, go ahead, Joe. >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Kyle. A quick followup. So the changes that were made were made by the current um developer that's in front of you folks right now.
I rely on my data people to talk through kind of the intricacies of it. Uh but a lot of that is uh making our systems talk to each other and building up that infrastructure. So, since this does gear towards the student success, um I would believe it would be a priority of the university to ensure that we have accurate data, that we have full data. And so, I think it's a little unfair to come to the ledge and ask us to give you guys a position based on what should already be a priority for the university. And maybe having to um maybe shift some funds around to ensure this position. Uh so, Mhm. I'm almost kind of like I get super nervous asking you folks for another thing cuz then you ask us for 10 times more. So, I just wanted to see if your back was against the wall, if you would be able to compile all this data considering that it does prioritize student success, which already should be a vision and a mission for the university.
Uh those two groups responded as unsure at a higher rate than current parents and our own staff. So, we needed to come up with ways to try to engage those people that were unsure so that in uh future conversations, they would know more about what we're doing and what we're proud of here at BPS 101. Um so, we found two things that we're very excited about. We have a new print and mailed newsletter that will be going out to every address in our district boundaries. Uh all of those mail routes. Um and it is going to be dropped on the 20th. So this Friday uh the first issue of the district dispatch uh will be in the homes of all in our community and we're excited to story tell about what's happening. Uh we did a great interview with the first grade team at Grace McWain.
And if that's the case, am I to assume, and again, I'm not an attorney, but if you're using somebody else's RAM report and you're making uh adjustments and or statement uh corrections to that, um I don't know if that's actually an an accurate um presentation that to be used uh for representing the current project. and and I appreciate the cander from the gentleman that was just there saying that they've made you know some corrections and stuff who made those corrections and what corrections were made as a result of that because again uh Mr. crouched who said that uh previously mentioned that you have to you folks need answers to these to these to their questions and uh not having the proper questions uh answers to those questions. It's just going to I think you use the expression you're going to be playing tennis back and forth and without getting any proper response andor uh decisions to be made.
So, that's all I wanted to mention. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Any other questions? No. Deborah, thank you. Okay, thank you, Deborah. Okay, moving on to House Bill 2338, House Draft 1. Uh this is uh Manoa Community College Promise Program to exclude grants, scholarships, and other funding sources from the calculation of the Hawaii Promise awards, allowing students to apply such funds towards indirect costs, including housing, food, and other living expenses to reduce financial barriers and support student success. We have um Kahele Dukelow on Zoom. Yes, uh Aloha uh Chair and um Senators. Um I'm Kahele Dukelow, the interim AVP for Academic Affairs for the Community Colleges and uh we stand on our testimony and we are available to answer questions. Great, thank you. Uh Keith Hayashi for Department of Education. Nobody from DOE. Okay. Uh David Meishiro testifying for Hawaii Kids Can. Aloha. Aloha. Uh Aloha Chair Kim, Senator DeCourcy, Senator Hashimoto.
Uh an awesome show of a firstear teacher and a very tenure teacher in our district working four of them are working in the same team and the same grade group and they're just an it's an awesome story. So look forward to reading that. Um we'll be doing that two times per year. One now and then one hopefully again in the fall. Um, then we have a new podcast that's coming out. Actually, I wanted to show you what the um our district dispatch looks like. So, here's just kind of a little preview um for the public to see. Uh that's that cute first grade team. Uh it's kind of a window into the classroom and you'll see that they just kind of talk about all the great things that are happening at Grace McWain. There's a just poetic letter from our superintendent. welcoming them to the conversation with our district.
So I just need that clarification. Thanks >> Joe. I think I'm going to try to answer that one. Greg, um if I understood the explanation, I mean it is it is um confusing because it seems uh that the original RAM report expired after one year. So if it was done in 2002, it it it had to uh at least commence by 20ou uh 2022 commence by 2023. It did not. So, all of these updates have been updates to a plan that seems to be uh invalid, which and that makes that confusing. Uh to your original point, the the original um plan was done by the building owner, not the applicant. So, the building owner and the land owner is still the same person. It's just a different plan. But why why it was amended with updates over the course of three years when it was uh invalid is is kind of hard to follow >> to the commission.
Um I just want to speak a little bit uh as the leader of a nonprofit, Hawaii Kids Can. So we've gone around the state, talked to many families, talked to a lot of students, and a couple things that we've learned. One is that folks are looking at community colleges very differently than I think traditionally has been done. There's been a lot more work to align community college with workforce needs, including construction, uh nursing, etc. And so the other thing that's come up very clearly is affordability. So families want to know that if they're making that investment in uh higher education, that they're going to get that return on investment. And I think fortunately UH Hilo's data has shown, especially when students are getting Associates of Science degrees from CUNY colleges, the return on investment is very strong. And just about as strong as it is from a general bachelor's degree from UH.
Uh, and you can see on the the sidebar there's some enrollment, you know, for kindergarten enrollment. So, people can quickly scan that QR code to um enroll their kid for next year. We have a little uh story on the site about the honor roll AP honor roll uh certificate that was uh earned by the high school. Again, more pictures. Cute. Everybody loves the school. um and just a really nice way to connect with our community. Um it also is soft launching a um community voices group that we are going to be forming that will help us to get all perspectives in the conversation and a feedback loop with our community. So, this is again why we want to get this in everyone's hands so that people that have been disconnected from us can now find a way to connect and have their voice heard uh in our in some of the decisions that we make here in this district.
That was also the three minutes for Mr. Manani. >> Thank you. I appreciate your time. >> Okay. Thanks for your participation. Is there anyone else online that would like to ask a question? I see Mark Done. You can come off mute.
Let that sink in. Associates of Science ROI is just about the same as a general bachelor's degree from UH. Um so all that to say, I think uh improving the Promise program is a really important uh step forward. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um let's see. Uh Carlin McFadden. Not here. Steven Schatz, Randy Wong, Chelsea Pain, and Crystal Thompson all in support. Anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure?
So, a little soft launch there of that community voices group. More to come on that. Um and secondly, I wanted to share with you um our new we are going to have a podcast and it is called Kids These Days. Um, and the idea behind that is it's kind of a intergenerational conversation. Um, so that the older folks in our community when they say kids these days can actually have a foundation in the conversation with a real student. So, uh, we recorded this two weeks ago. Um, by the end of this month or beginning of next month, it will have its first episode will be, um, put out and we interviewed a senior student at Betavia High School and, uh, Craig Foltos, the barberh shop owner. Um, and the two of them just sit and talk about really what was it like? What did you think of, you know, what is my favorite class was this?
Three minutes. >> Okay, three minutes. It's kind of kind of tough to get going. >> No, it's 2 minutes and 50 seconds. >> Okay. the this it's is this RAM record that is a major issue. They're trying to bury that to put into place other lighter things to do in place of that. If this was in front of the ZBA, the state housing authority would be trumping that and saying they don't have to do that. But this is this board, the concom Yes, we all know we live through it. But I'm just saying to the developer and his team, don't discard the ram is because of so many years and think it's stagnated and the ground they want to work on. I said this last time is the building itself on the ground will be certain to be contaminated there. And that part of the build question is the uh the original foundation of the middle building and the and the pipe lines that's underneath the ground.
If not, members, any questions? Questions? Senator Hashimoto, floor. EVP Luke Lu, are you still there? Yep, aloha. So so with this amendment to the bill, what what do you think is the is it's going to cost the state when we are you know, allowing more, you know, we're not going to count others aid, what what more is this going to cost us it to to subsidize? Well, at this point, we're not asking for any additional funding. I think we're we're trying to figure out exactly uh you know, what the effects may be. Um at this point, we know that through Hawaii Promise, we can we can meet the direct cost needs of students who show financial aid um through the FAFSA process. Um and we think that allowing students um to use other kinds of aid like scholarships um and institutional grants um for other costs, um we think that it would improve um the success of our students so that they would not have to work as much.
What's yours? Uh, did you have a job? How do you get money? How much screen time do you have? It's a really really cute conversation. I encourage people to uh listen. Um and it is uh through a local podcast company. So, we're really excited with that partnership. Um and we'll be putting this out once a month um in the school year. So, again, we started it late in this year so we can get a couple under our legs, make some improvements over the summer, and relaunch again um in the fall. So, super excited about that. We'll weave into that conversation also some of the reasons why there's differences today. versus before um and again giving more information out to our community. So um we are really excited about this. We really hope that we engage some new people um some that are interested in podcasts and some that are, you know, really interested in having something in their hand to read and be delivered at their doorstep.
that should be ram inspected by third parties and rams. So I'm just saying that they got to do that work underground in the main building the foundation to see what the RAM report actually is and have D actually tell them not them telling D but D tell them what to do. Thank you. >> Thanks Mark. Mark, you raised an interesting point. Uh if if this RAM report was uh part of the record before the ZBA, it was invalid. Did they did their peer review obviously didn't pick that up? >> I wasn't fully involved in the entire ZBA process, but as Mr. Campbell indicated, you know, the the intent was to start construction sooner. We're at a point now because permitting has taken longer than anticipated. We're more than a year out. Um, and again, um, >> yeah, but you're five years. >> I I I don't want to beat a dead horse with it, but we're we're we're happy to provide you the information you want.
And at this again, we're not asking for any additional funding at this point in time. Okay, so so basic cuz when when I read the bill, it's you're allowing more things to not count towards their >> Yeah. Yeah, right? Yes. >> So so that it shouldn't it shouldn't impact though what what are what we're going to be giving these students or does it? No. No. So, we, you know, uh we're asking that it's the last state and federal dollar so that we go off of what a Pell Grant would be issued, and then the Hawaii Promise funding would be used if there are any remaining need up until their direct cost is met. Right? So, we have a bunch of different kinds of funding that can be used to close those gaps, Hawaii Promise being one of them. Okay. Okay. So, so So, this would in theory, though, what would your cost savings be then in administrative burden?
So that's a report for two exciting things coming up in the communications department. >> And where can you find that podcast? >> Um it will be on what's it's um Richard Clark's uh podcast. It's the area code. >> Yeah, area code Bavia. He is going to um put it out on his stream and then also we'll have it embedded on our website >> and that's it. >> Any comments, questions? >> Nothing but positive. I think that's is all a great idea. uh the park district has started these monthly conversations and it kind of reminded me of that like intergenerational discussions you know about Battavia. Um so I think I think it's a great idea. >> Thank you. >> Well, thank you very much. All right. All right. And as a reminder, we are uh for our action section of our agenda, we're going to be discussing and u voting, I guess a voting on or discussing approval of the student board member program.