EDU Informational Briefing 01-30-2026

001Good afternoon and welcome to the committee, Senate Committee on Education. Uh today is Friday, January 30th. It's 1 p.m. in room 229 and uh we are here to holdformational briefings on Hawaii P20 partnerships for education and department of education budget and capital improvement projects. A live stream of all Senate standing committee meetings will be available on the Senate YouTube channel in case you missed this or you want to watch yourself uh when you go home this weekend. So with that, [laughter] uh, so this, um, start off with, uh, Hawaii P20, Stephen Shots. >> Good afternoon, Senator Kim, Senator Hashimoto, Senator Dort. Appreciate the opportunity to be here. My name is Steven Shots. I'm the executive director of Hawaii P20 Partnerships for Education. Uh to my knowledge, I don't think we've ever done a P20 specific

002briefing. So definitely appreciate the ability to have a conversation um with members of the committee and share with the public some of the work that we've been up to both as P20 the organization, but also P20 the partnership which is um between the University of Hawaii, the K12 public school system, and the Executive Office of Early Learning. So, um, appreciate the opportunity to talk a little bit about what we've accomplished, what our purpose is, and how we do our work. So, our purpose is to strengthen the educational pipeline. In particular, we focus on areas of transition. Um, so we wake up in the morning thinking about the transitions between early ed and kindergarten, between middle and high school, between high school and college and and the workforce. Um, and we fulfill this purpose by doing

003two different functions. One is we serve as what's sometimes called an education intermediary, meaning we're a facilitator. We convene, we bring people together, we try and um solve problems together. So, we leverage that convening power, the data that we can provide um and we work with our partners to try and find a way to make sustainable [clears throat] change. And then we're also a direct service provider. So um especially through our gear up work um but also in our pathway shop we are on the ground working with schools providing direct services or funding for direct services to schools um throughout the state. We do both of these things with an eye for systemic change. So like even if we're implementing a program that is a grant-f funed program, we're often thinking about how can we

004create change for the entire system? how can we make this a sustainable thing that goes on um beyond the this particular grant and our four areas are early care and education uh improving post-secary readiness and success uh career pathways which includes uh career and technical education and education and workforce data. So those are the four strategic areas of our um of our plan. So I want to just talk a little bit about what we've accomplished in our next steps. So, I'll try and be real quick here. Um, with stakeholders, we developed a statewide literacy plan which laid the groundwork for multi-million dollar federal uh grants to the state of Hawaii. Uh, we piloted and scaled a summer start kindergarten program with philanthropic funds. So, this was like for incoming kindergarteners, basically a transition program. And,

005um, this was funded through the Samuel and Mary Castle Foundation. And um this is a great example of where we tried something with a little bit of philanthropic dollars and then the DOE took it on and now this is going on in around 85 schools across the state. We helped the to develop a kindergarten transition toolkit. Um, and then these two websites that you see right there were um are resources for families um to figure out eligibility and also the availability of early childhood programs in their region. Finally, we awarded uh about $3.5 million of wage stabilization bonuses to over 1500 um early childhood educators across the state in the last little bit. Um, one of our new things that we're going to work on is we are looking at um, EOL classrooms. Um, and

006so or EOL is like regular school hours 8 to 2. So for parents who are not able to pick up their kids at 2 there, we think there's an afterchool care gap. We think that there may be parents who would like to avail themselves of Veel, but if they got to pick up their kid at two, they just won't do it. So, we're going to we're talking story with folks on Kawaii. That's where we're thinking of doing the beginnings of a of assessing the reality of it. Um, and we have a little bit of funding from the Kosasa Foundation to kind of work on that over the next year or so. Um, second strategic area is post-secondary readiness and success. Um, some, you know, one of the things that we're sort of known for is

007FAFSA. Um, so we help with FAFSA completion across the state. We provide direct services like in, you know, cafeterias at spaghetti dinner kind of nights um to parents and families, but we also provide online um help and an email help line as well. Right now, well, when I wrote this, it was fifth in the nation and then we checked. I want to admit we're seventh in the nation in FAFSA completion, but still we're doing pretty well um this year on FAFSA completion. Um, I know Senator Kim, you were um you were there at Fington High School when when President Hensel and um and Superintendent Hayashi launched the direct to uh program. We were we helped facilitate the creation of that. We also created the data sharing and data flow infrastructure that make that enables um

008the the student data to come from DOE to uh so that kids can be admitted to the uh four years. So and then we help with communication out into the field and then our gear up grant and I have Angela Jackson somewhere here with me. Angela Jackson is our gearup director. She's been with us for years running this gear up grant. We we we did an external evaluation of our Gear Up um program. So the Gear Up program is a federal grant to help more lowincome students get into college, whether it's two or four year trade or technical school. And so we're currently in we're going to be in 27 DOE schools, 12 uh high schools, and 15 middle schools across the state. Um but our external evaluation um says that Gear Up activities significantly

009predict on-time graduation and immediate college enrollment. So we were pretty excited about that and actually that evaluation informed the way we wrote our new grant cuz what we did was we figured out okay what's working in our old grant let's make some of this mandatory in the implementation of our new grant and grant instead of being you know instead of being loose about it. um next steps there. The in particular for the Gear Up grant, we're really concentrating on um ninth grade math readiness. This I know is a issue for um that the superintendent and the department are taking very seriously. Some of our data is really strong that summer programs make an impact on 9th grade. And so that's one of the things we're mandating for our gear up high schools and middle schools

010is that they have a summer program coming this summer and it has to have an academic component on um mathematics. Oh, sorry. And the final one I didn't want to omit is in this Gear Up um iteration, every high school senior graduating from a Gear Up high school is eligible for a scholarship, $740. So, it's the minimum PEL amount, but every single kid in any of those Gear Up high schools, if they go to an instate degree granting institution, is eligible for that scholarship. So, we have to figure out how we're going to administer this. So, don't ask too many questions on that one, but but um but we're committed to making it happen. And we're also we're excited about this, not just because that money may be significant, but it's also a great thing

011to be able to communicate if you're in one of these schools. It actually doesn't matter if you're a title one eligible student or not. It just matters that you're in these schools. You are eligible for this. Again, instate degree granting institutions. So, not just University of Hawaii campuses, but other um degree granting institutions throughout throughout the state. >> You guys have gear up uh high schools in Wai. >> Yes. Wai and Nakuli. Yeah. >> In fact, I missed the meeting today because I'm here. [laughter] is isn't gear up um may lose its funding or >> so we were worried about Gear Up funding and under the administration's original budget it had been eliminated but it ended up getting through. I mean Gear Up's a an interesting one because there are red and blue states that

012have Gear Up and there are um advocates across the legislature on the federal level for this on both sides of the aisle. So we were really relieved. Um the requirements for Europe changed a bit. Um so some of the specifics um around targeting particular ethnic groups were essentially disallowed. So our target is now just socioeconomically disadvantaged. Um okay. So career pathways. Um, the first thing I would like to say to Senator Kim, because the last time I think we spoke in a hearing, you said, "Make sure you get the pathway maps done." We got the pathway maps done. We've been >> Everybody listens. [laughter] >> Thanks to Warren, where is Warren? Warren Kano is our pathways uh strategy director and our CTE guy. Um, I want to acknowledge that these pathway maps are complete, but

013they are a little bit hard to navigate for an average student. And so that is why we're excited about the legislaturator's appropriation to the CC's for that AI path. I heard you all talking about this the other day with Kahel Duklo. That pathways program will take our maps and essentially make it easier and more digestible to navigate for your average family and and and kids. Um, right now our maps are pretty useful for um, a CTE lead in a school, a counselor, a teacher. I don't know that a student would necessarily be able to navigate it, but we have all the nuts and bolts there. So, we're excited that the legislature is investing in kind of making it a little easier to to digest. >> So, why did you guys do it if it's only

014people with degrees can can >> Well, to be honest, that was our intent to begin with is we wanted to inform the council. We wanted to make sure the counselors and the CTE folks at the school level could say, "Hey, you're in this program right now. Here's your here are your options for where to go next should you want to continue." Believe it or not, this mapping didn't exist. So, you could have like somebody at Cap High School in a particular CTE program maybe not I'm not picking on them, that's a hypothetical, but not knowing that Leeward does or does not offer a continuation of that program. So, the work that that Warren and his folks did was to go out to talk to all the CTE deans, all the CTE resource teachers, vet these

015maps and say, "Okay, does this make sense?" And and we finally got through it. So, we're It was necessary and not sufficient, I guess, is what I would say. Yeah. Um, we expanded. Oh, sorry. We have um career navigators. These are individuals who work for Hawaii P20, but they work with, I believe, one to three schools, and they help students who are unsure of their future plans to navigate their high school senior year. So whether they want to become, you whether they want to go to a four-year, or two-year, military, go straight to work. These navigators work alongside the high school um counseling staff and are helping these folks along. We're looking at some philanthropic dollars to expand this. Um, but the preliminary data looks good. Um, the engagement looks really good. The the qualitative

016data looks excellent. We get a lot of thank yous and like loving notes and such and and it and it really touches our our our hearts that we're that we seem to be making an impact with this navigator's program. Um, one last thing I'll say on this one is with our CTE plan, although most of the money gets formed. So, we get we are the state office of career and technical education. As such, I'm the state director of CTE and we receive the Perkins grant money from the federal government which has its set of requirements. Mostly that money gets split 5050 between DOE and uh DOE CC's and and sorry DOE high schools and the uh community college system. the the we are using our reserve funds differently than we ever have. And we're we

017created basically a competitive grant system for high schools and colleges to say, "Hey, I want to do a welding program at our high school. If we if they can justify that it's aligned with labor market needs, we give them whatever amount of money it is." And so, you know, it could be anything from a small dollar amount like 13,000 to maybe 50,000. But we're trying to incentivize um exciting new programs that are aligned with workforce needs. And then we're also trying to incentivize alignment between the high school and the community college. So that to me, those are the ones I want to see more of is I want more jointly submitted requests between LCC and Pahu or stuff like that. >> So the DoD um program that got instituted at uh HCC and and Jennifer

018Sabas has been working with the high schools and the intermediate schools. So, is that something you've been involved with as far as >> Well, we've been in conversations w with them and we've um but I haven't been that directly involved in the implementation. Yeah. They they invite us to our their convenings and we've we've been having some conversations. We should get more involved with them to be honest. >> Yeah. Because they're doing exactly what you're saying. Yeah. and they're not stopping just at the high school, but they're going down to the middle schools >> and putting them on a pathway. Um, >> so they're doing Dole and then Dole feeds into Farington and Farington feeds into HCC, which seems like a natural pathway. >> It is a natural pathway. Yeah. >> And she's not asking

019us for any money. >> I know. >> To be fair, neither am I. >> Yeah. Okay. >> So, you said 50/50. So, the funding is basically federal funding. it the the funding so P20's funding is a combination of general funds >> about general funds >> 1.1 something around there sorry it might not be the exact number but but essentially general funds which funds some of the P20 positions but also some positions in career and technical education so we recently merged with CTE so that's how we got those CTE G funded positions but most of our funding is either federal or philanthropic grants. So basically 7% of our funding is is G funds appropriated by the legislature. Mo most of our funding is gear up is is a big chunk of it. In the past we've

020had these federal grants for data for early ed. Um we have generous support from some of our philanthropic partners um throughout the state. Um but yeah, most of our funding is >> because you're not statutoily created. >> No. Yes. You just created um DOE and uh and you fall under uh >> correct. So we sit at the University of Hawaii system office under the >> vice president I mean the yeah the president but the vice president for academic affairs. >> So you do you get any direct funding from uh at all? >> The G funding is it flows through uh yeah so we give it to the but they don't give you anything out of their budget. Well, it's all a lot. I mean, yeah, we don't get a direct appropriation for like Hawaii P20.

021I think it goes to uh and then that's how we're funded. Yeah. Yeah. Um those maps, as I mentioned, I think the next steps are to integrate those both with the the UHC um initiative, but also with the DOE's p uh personal transition plan. So both the DOE and I think it's almost right now I'm not sure if that RFP for the PTP is out now but in any case we're the idea is every all the data that we have which I'll admit sometimes clunky but it's really robust data if we do a good job of integrating it with these with the DOE personal transition plan and the uh AI career platform then we're going to have a tool that's really useful for our parents and and and for our students. Okay. You >> okay?

022Last one. Last one. Sorry. Um I don't know if this last one actually. Um I wanted to Okay. I wanted to just mention this because this is a little bit different. This is our convening um power or convening influence. The lieutenant governor asked us to convene a just basically a work group on solving the teacher shortage. and involved have been HTSB, HSTA, um, University of Hawaii, CC's, and College of Ed, um, DOE, US. I'm probably forgetting some. And we're going to be inviting, um, Senator Kim to be a part of that as well. Um, >> you are. >> Yeah, I've I've been asked to ask. Yeah, [laughter] >> ask. [clears throat] Um I will I want to just share some highlights from this. Two really good things that have happened. The first one is that

023the University of Hawaii and I heard uh Dean Marata talking about it the other day is really on the cusp of creating true seamless pathways between two years and four years. This has always been a problem since I've been around. These conversations have been in fits and starts. They actually like got down to the nitty-gritty. they remove or they are removing a lot of the prerequisite requirements that had been there for you to enter as a junior into the college of ed at Monoa. So, we're really optimistic and impressed and I want to give credit to um Nate Marata um Janet Kim and some of the other folks at the college of ed but also on the UHC side Kahal Dlo and some of the other folks who were over there who are making this

024um happen. Last one is we oh we have stood up educator rising chapters in eight high schools. So, these are clubs essentially like CTE clubs and we're going to have a competition next week um that we're we're trying to get kids excited to be teachers. If we can't get more kids enrolled as first-time freshman at the University of Hawaii, we won't graduate more and we won't solve the problem. We got to start at the beginning of the pipeline. These eight schools where there are Ed Rising clubs are places where there are no CTE pathways in in education. So sometimes they might they might be a small school or they might just not have as much interest, but we shouldn't just limit ourselves to those officially with CTE pathways. So I'm excited about this. The Castle

025Foundation, Herald Castle Foundation funded these Ed Rising clubs, worked with the College of Ed. Um yeah, and then the final one is we're we're doing a particular pathway ourselves at P20. Stay at home, grow your own. The idea being for neighbor island kids being to be able to stay on their island, take some early college classes in high school, get some experience. Um, Leeward is the partner and uh West is a partner. And so we're on our second cohort of this work. Okay, this is our data. We also are the statewide longitudinal data system under HRS 277. And then we try to maintain transparency um by providing resources to the uh community and our educational leaders so they can they can make uh important decisions um using those resources. >> Okay. >> Thanks. >> Let

026me just follow up on quick [clears throat] things first. Uh $3.6 million workforce stabilization wage bonus. When was that and how is that reoccurring or is that one >> No, that was a federal grant. So it was onetime grant. >> Yeah, it was a onetime federal grant. >> When where what what year was that? >> Uh it uh it ended I think we have a no cost extension. So basically it's over. It just ended in fall of uh one year. >> No, it was a three-year grant. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> And it was a grant that we did executed in in partnership with the executive office of early learning. >> Okay. And that made a difference. >> We're not sure yet. We that was part of what we plan to do, right? The idea was

027to um augment these folks uh wages. >> Okay. >> Um the pathways uh to two years seamless transition to four years, which I think is excellent. Um, but I want to caution that we're we're we're not just pushing kids or students to the next level just because we want to get them out into the workplace and that we're we're sub not substituting we're foregoing basics basic soft skills um basic uh competencies uh because the real world and and the technical world is is very different right so just because they get a degree doesn't necessarily mean that they're ready to enter the workforce. Uh maybe they got the skill to do something but they don't they cannot connect the dots. They don't have the critical thinking. And I hope that part the critical thinking part is

028not being sacrificed. Um because there needs to be a balance right. >> Absolutely. Just as we get these online completely online degrees, which is convenient and great for for people, but the professors too, you know, they got so complacent in that they do this um automatic 247 what is it called? Um a as what's the word that they use? >> Asynchronous. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Um yeah. And so they don't have to do anything, you know, you just But then we're we're putting out we're putting out uh citizens that don't have those critical thinking, haven't haven't talked with with other people, haven't had those relationships and stuff. And so I'm not sure what what kind of students were putting out there into the workforce at some point because it's going to catch up with us,

029right? >> Yeah. Yeah. And I would say one of our strategies on that end is to ensure that folks in high school have or students in high school have work-based learning experiences so they can go out in the world, learn how to be professional, learn how to be responsible. And the legislature funded the DOE last year with a bunch of workforce development money. And then of course the legislature funded the um the Helm Mua program, right? another way to ensure that they're not just having this academic experience, they're having a real world one >> because you know the async professors, they don't get to know the students, they don't talk to the students, they have no way of really evaluating the students. Um, and at the same time, I'm just wondering what happens to their

030salaries if they're not actually in the classrooms with the students and they have 247 and they're out doing all kinds of other things. Then, you know, I'm and the school teacher is still in the classroom. Yeah. >> Yeah. the school teacher has that and they still don't are not uh don't have parity with the professors. Yeah. >> Um and so to me there's a real real disparity between the two um because face-toface learning versus async type classes. It's one thing to have a a um online class where you have a professor there with you and talking to you and you have groups, but to have this async really I mean I I'm not sure what what >> it takes a very motivated student. >> Exactly. Exactly. And then they pass and they go on into

031the world and then that's not how the real world is. Right. So again, I hope that as we look at that that we really consider um because years from now we're going to look back and say, "Oh my god, you know, we did a we were a disservice to those that got these degrees, right? >> Okay, members questions. I have others, but I will sorry I would just like Thank you. I would just like to circle back to the afterchool care for the EOLE. Um are are you folks not able to integrate that into the the A+ program with the DOE? Uh may I mean I think the answer is we're not sure what the best connection is. Um yeah I we're we're the first thing we're going to do is assess the reality of

032the situation. Um whether private providers make sense, whether A+ makes sense. We're going to kind of go talk to folks and understand the landscape and then and then try and pilot something from there. >> So we're we're really not sure. Yeah. >> Okay. I know that program has been working very well in my district. Um, so I just want to continue to see it um, move forward. So, thank you. >> Got it. >> Thank you, Chair. >> I guess on that since we're talking about early childhood. So, so the thing that's that's been I've been trying to tell, you know, the EOL folks is that they really got to look at who's, you know, enrolling in Open Doors and who's going to Eel because Open Doors has, you know, we haven't historically expended the full

033amount, right? So, we had to change the law to allow more people to go. And I've been trying to tell them, okay, you got to go collect some data of who in EAL actually qualifies for open doors, right? And it it's just to me it's just a data thing that you got to fill up open doors and then whoever doesn't, you know, go into open doors, then you can go into EL. And I know there's choice, but there's we're leaving money on the table and our goal is universal prek and we're just not getting there. But, you know, and so they're claiming they're going to go look at the data, but I was like, we should have been looking at the data from the beginning. So, I don't know if you have any insight on

034that, but I I think, you know, you you with all the data, I think we we really need to make sure >> data, just to be clear, the early ad data is a little more it's a little more disperate, too, because even the EOL is an administratively attached agency. So, their data >> So, are you going to are you going to get their data once they start collecting? >> Um, we're not being asked to be the data hub for the early So, it sounds like they're going to do their own then. >> That's what they intend. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Maybe we got to go get a sharing agreement then. So, at least you, you know, >> I mean, we're happy to help cuz I think we have some experience in setting up data sharing

035infrastructure to make sure it's safe and and secure and it works. So, um, but they've I think they're making a renewed commitment to work through the questions that you raise. Well, we got to we got to spend the money or else, right, we're not going to educate these kids, right? >> Okay. Moving on to um I guess the teacher pathway. So, so what is your what is your I'm glad that you're you're working on it as well, but what's you know, since on if you watched on Wednesday, we had this whole thing about with TECC. What what's your integration with them? And are you guys overlapping or what's what's the difference? >> I mean, I would say we're overlapping in a positive way, right? The the group that we convene is is just the public

036entities though, right? Like it's only those that are state funded. We're really just talking DOE, uh, the unions. Um, or yeah, the actually unions. Um, so they I would say TCC has a broader responsibility dealing with accreditation and other issues. >> I know they're trying to like work on solving the teacher shortage, but ours is kind of like >> I don't know whether the right word is strategic plan, but we're trying to just get like change numbers, right? Like we need more first-time freshmen who want to be data doesn't lie. >> Let's get focused on that. And then at the uh side, let's ensure that everyone who wants to be a teacher can get out in a reasonable amount of time and start filling our classroom. So, it's like >> a little less um at

037least at this time a little less those two buckets are kind of tactical. Let's go. Let's go get some numbers. Well, I'm glad, you know, I I know you the university is really trying with the between the you know, go from two-year to fouryear, but but to me what and we talked about this at our last hearing, you know, I think what you got to really think about is you you're then always ending up at Monoa on campus, right? And so part of it is we got to figure out and I think we have to take into consideration what Senator Kim is saying, but but I think with teaching you you deploy them out in the field. It doesn't matter what island you're on. You can deploy them already right after year two. And then

038really do you need to be on campus really for the in-person, you know, learning of the actual teacher because they're actually out in the field. You can you can do some type of creative thinking there. But I think the frustration is that we haven't gone far enough, right? I think two to four is great, but really the the concern is the rural areas, right? And I know I know you know that's an issue but I think we we need to double down on that effort of we're losing all these neighbor islanders, right? >> Yes. I mean although I will say uh recently responded or uh Hilo responded by standing up a teacher prep bachelor's program where they whereas before it was only back. So that's like responding to that work. I mean that >> so

039that takes care of Hilo you know your Maui Kawaii which you're going to do. >> Well it might not even take care of the west side of the big island, right? So, but yeah. >> So, anyway, I I think that's that's that focus needs to be there. I think we're we're we're not even capturing the lowhanging fruit, right? Which is, okay, there there's just if you are a student on Maui, you look at, okay, I want to be a teacher. You like give up already because you're going to be a nurse because it's so easy to become a nurse because we we have it laid out for you. And you look at teaching, oh my gosh, of course you're not going to be a teacher because it's just way too hard, right? And so, I

040think that's that's the point. That was my point on Wednesday. That's my point today. But I think at least you're working on and I think that's that's where we got to go. But I think we just got to break down those barriers, right? And and because it's it's it's an issue. >> So yeah. >> Okay. Um you certainly appreciate the key accomplishments that you put in your report. Uh and the comment that you made that this is the first time that you're doing a actual P20. um which you know raises the the issue as to uh how how widely disseminated information regarding what P20 is doing and and the data and how well closely like do you folks present with the board of education or do you um you know we need to have more

041>> we do we um at least annually more like two times a year we definitely present to the board of education Um we also always present to do we're always um every year we're presenting our data findings to DOE leadership um and leadership at the University of Hawaii. Um we share with the business roundt chamber of commerce um folks like that. So we try to get our our messages out and share what we're up to. So do you have any formal type of reporting on whether the pathways directly lead to local job placements and is there any evidence-based um performance metrics on that? >> So we here's what we have and what we don't have. We have path we can see whether or not um graduates of particular programs at university end up in our

042workforce. So we've asked that question for example of you know our our four focus areas IT skilled trades healthcare and teaching and so we collect data on that. >> How long have you been collecting data on that? >> Couple years now on that time we asked you said oh they don't look they haven't been really keeping track where the graduates are going. >> Yeah well we're not there's a there's a caveat there. we can see um often times you can't see whether they're in the field that they graduated in. You can see whether they're employed, >> right? >> So our d the data systems aren't that great and I don't you know the data system doesn't give you the specificity that you might want like if an IT somebody graduates with an IT degree from

043uh and then they're working in >> McDonald's well no let's make it better. Sorry, nothing against McDonald's. The >> if they're working in a hospital, >> you might think they're in healthcare, but they're really doing it for the hospital. So, it gets a little confusing. The one where it's not that confusing though is education, >> right? >> And educa I mean Nate shared the data the other day, right? 90% retention rate after 5 years. And then our data shows graduates from uh um uh education programs are very very likely to be found in our workforce. So when you think about like jobs that you can have in a rural community, helping your community that are a living wage, not saying they get paid enough, but it's a living wage, education is a really good one.

044It's a good investment for these um for these kids who want to stay home and help their community. >> So how would you say the amount of students um that did that P20 directly served and what happened to them? I mean, I know you said that you folks have, but do you have records on that? >> I I have to think about that. Yeah. I mean, we evaluate the impacts in particular for our gear up students because that's where we're definitely on the ground. And then we have some other pathways grants where we're working with schools and then we collect data separately for for those grants according to the whoever's the funer is. Um but I but never sort of in aggregate. Yeah. But but we can certainly share the gear up data. >> So

045you folks did have a promotion. I would call it a promotion but a 55 by 25 goal, right? So did Hawaii reach the 55? >> We did not secondary. >> We did not. Um although the numbers improved pretty significantly, but the the the new goal that was set by the Hawaii P20 Council um a couple years ago is Hawaii graduates for Hawaii's future. And if you want to go to that website, there's um there's a little more information about that, what that sort of conceptually means, but the idea is we want to be able to create a future for our students and we also want our students to be able to create their future and we want that to be here within that Hawaii graduates for Hawaii's future. We got agreement from early ed, K12,

046um higher ed to measure our progress in those three areas. and then a little bit of workforce data as well, although that's again, as I mentioned, a little blurriier, but those four sub goals of Hawaii graduates for Hawaii's future. Um, kind of give you this macro picture of how we're doing. Not dissimilar to the the last couple pages of this deck, but a little more in detail and with demographic disagregations and such. Um, so I I think there's this synergy, right? You hear a lot of people talking about we need a pipeline for these kids to stay home. We need a way for them to come back home. We want to create a Hawaii where they can live and thrive. You're from the Workforce Development Council. Like it feels like there are more people on

047the same page about the purpose of education and the the ways in which education can help our students to succeed and and solve Hawaii's problems and be here while they solve them. >> So, what would you say the measurable improvements um or what measurable improvements you can show for Hawaii public school students, especially for title one schools? Um I would say you're see you see generally speaking a couple data points that are that are positive. Um one is that the first-time freshman at uh generally are the trajectory is getting higher for those who are in um English 100 and math 100 or above. So you know this one of the things we measure because especially math one ma like the entry level math can be an impediment to success. So we measure that over the

048years and we're seeing an upward trajectory. I think a lot of that is early college to be honest because if they come in with English 100 andor math 100 then they then they they've already passed that hurdle and they may have gotten it with a little more support than they would have gotten because they're doing it in high school. there might be a tutor, they might get more, you know, time to to work on it. Um, so that's a that's one good thing. Um, I would say the increase in University of Hawaii collegegoing rate generally looks positive to me. I think it it speaks to the pathways that are trying to be developed. It's a little hard to be like this is causal, but I'm a little bit optimistic that one of the reasons kids

049are choosing uh is because they're getting excited about the pathway they're in in high school and then they metriculate to continue. >> But are you are you so so you're not going in and you're actually talking to somebody's students then or as as you know just take a student be like okay what what made you you know make that decision? We we do focus groups at times, especially through Gear Up. We do >> um surveys and focus groups um through Gear Up. Um not sure we've done it in the context of Pathways, though. That's a good good >> good thought and question >> because I think what if the the true ultimate show of success is if you can prove that it's because of those things. I think that's great anecdotal information and I I

050hope it's true, >> but I think we got to somehow figure out how do we track that, right? Because I think, you know, I think you're on the right track. It's just a matter of >> let's just see if the student will actually say that. Yeah. >> Or they might say something different and we might not even know it too, right? >> That's right. >> Might be interesting. >> Yeah. >> Because Oh, I apologize. Go ahead. >> Uh do you at least have the data on what industries that they're leading into? Do you have at least that data >> on Sorry, could you repeat the question? >> Yeah, on the industries that they're interested in getting into. So, teachers, nurses, construction. We have the data based on their course taking. >> Yeah. So we can

051we can tell you know like we're seeing an increase in um I don't remember what the name of the the the program is in high school but it's essentially align with the value added centers that have been like we're seeing an increase in interest in those CTE programs that are about entrepreneurship um and manufacturing of food products. So, like I think the investments that the ledge make influence what kids are interested in doing in in high school and college and I think that's a good thing. >> Yeah. >> Uh really quick and then um because I'm noticing through some conversations that I'm having with some of the university students is that I believe some of them may be getting into business um degrees only kind of as a place to sit there to find out

052what they really are interested in. So we can help to narrow that down sooner rather than later. They're interested in college. They want to pursue a higher education. So I think helping them to find that career pathway is very critical so they don't spend four years in business and not really sure what they know. >> Yeah. And then change and then >> waste their parents money. Yeah. >> So I think the bottom line question is which P20 pathways align with Hawai's workforce shortages and how many students actually fill those jobs. So >> yeah. >> Okay. So if outcomes do not improve or get exponentially better, what should change? >> I mean my my honest assessment of my honest answer to that is it depends on the outcome and I think these outcomes are chosen because

053there's like a research base behind them. Readiness for kindergarten ready third grade reading you guys have heard many times, right? ninth grade success, first year freshman, like these are these are metrics that weren't just chosen out of the air. Um, I would say there's progress being made on some of them and then there are areas where we got to dig down as a community and say what's going to but I I would just also add it's not one person or one entity's um in one entity's control, right? like we all have to like as it relates to >> reading um this is a teacher prep issue as much as it is a professional development and readiness issue within the DOE right so that's if you we're talking about third grade reading I would say there

054may be a role for the board of ed there may be a role for the legislature there may be a role for um the the teacher preparation programs and there's definitely a role for the DOE right so it sort of depends on the metric but then that's why I think the the the power of putting the power of showing data is just that transparency and then like hey let's if we don't know what we're trying to achieve if we're not going to achieve it right >> well and that's why we're here that's why this committee has asked and is doing theseformational briefings and why we want all of you here we want the board of ed here and want the border regions here because they're the ones that oversee and they're the ones should be

055looking at the policies and they can't make policies or understand it unless they know how the community is actually feeling about is we represent the community and so when you hear from us we're representing what's going on in our districts and that's so important. So it really um concerning when not everybody's at the table because not everybody's talking to each other and we need DOE to talk to uh to let them know what we need in the classrooms, how to deliver education, how to deliver um the product to the students and then uh needs to know well if this is what we want then this is how we have to educate and and prep our teachers to be able to fulfill that. But if that communication is not happening, then you know we're going to

056continue to to go on continue to go on and wonder, you know, why we're not doing better. >> Right. >> Agree. I would I will say this is the best I've seen communication communication's always been pretty good between uh and DOE and this is I I think we're at a spot where it's better than it's been better than it's ever been. >> I think that also has to do with the new leadership at the university. I mean, you know, I I have to say that. So, I'm happy that that's going on. Um, but, you know, we're here to talk about P20 and so to justify continued legislative support, uh, I think P20 must one define clear current outcomes metrics, you know, attainment, persistent completion, workforce placement, publicly report annual results. Um also you know talking

057about title one schools and uh campuses demonstrate non-duplicate non-duplication uh prove outcomes would not occur without P20 tie pathways to Hawaii workforce shortage and report uh instate job placements show return on investment including sustainable beyond federal grants and accept consequences if outcomes are not met including um restructuring or consolidation. So, um, you know, I think that's, um, a lot that you folks will have on your plate, but I think that should apply to everyone if we want to really make a difference and really transform how we deliver education um, to the students and and how we support our teachers. >> Thank you, >> members. Any other questions on this? If not, Stephen, thank you very much. >> Thank you. Okay, we are moving on to DOE. See, okay, budget and capital improvements. Um, >> hey,

058good afternoon, Chair Kim. Vice Chair. Oh, members of the committee on education, thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on the department's capital improvement program. When it comes to CIP, our goal is to ensure that every student has access to safe, modern, and healthy learning environments that support teaching and learning. At the same time, we recognize that prior approach approaches to managing CIP have not consistently met that goal and that this has raised legitimate concerns about accountability, prioritization, and execution. It's important to understand the scale of what the department manages. We oversee over 21.5 million square ft of facilities across more than 260 sites statewide. Currently, we have 42 capital projects in active construction with balances exceeding $1 million along with 15 additional large-scale projects in design closing or land acquisition phases. We

059appreciate the legislaturator's support, particularly the creation of 11 categorical lumpsum CIP buckets, which provide greater flexibility to manage projects more efficiently and address urgent needs. For the bianium, the board of education approved $784.4 million and with act 250, the total is $950.9 million. The executive budget includes 475.5 million reflecting reductions across multiple facility categories. I also want to directly address the concern that the department lacks a strategy for improving CIP. We are intentionally bu rebuilding the program with an initial focus on governance, prioritization, transparency, and data integrity. The board of education is actively holding the department accountable by requiring regular CIP updates at board meetings, initiating an updated facilities condition assessment, and direct directing the development of clearer and more consistent prioritization methodologies. Earlier this month, we reported to the board that in the six

060months ending December 2025, the department completed 23 construction projects totaling $235 million. At the department level, we are strengthening oversight, improving communication with schools in complex areas, and increasing visibility into project status and timelines. We have also examples where complex projects have been delivered on time and on budget and we are working to make that level of performance more consistent. Given the size and complexity of the public school system, we believe that a deliberate approach focused on improvement and oversight is the most responsible path forward. We appreciate your continued partnership as we work uh as we work to deliver better outcomes for our students and communities. Thank you very much. You stated in the beginning you have how many projects and over $1 billion. What was >> 1 million? >> 42 capital projects in active

061construction with balances exceeding $1 million. >> Okay. And then what about your encumbered projects? Uh how many projects is that and what's that total amount? >> Joining me is uh deputy superintendent Jesse Suki for um facilities >> and vice chair, members, chair. Um we have for you're asking for the encumbered contracts. >> Yes. That and and any completed projects. >> So for um in June 2025, we reported 798.2 million um in encumbered uh unexpended funds. So those are contracts that are encumbered and uh moving. Um we took a look recently uh more recently and our number is 592 million for uh 800 um contracts. Um so these are you know point in time sort of numbers. Um, and we're refining that as we prepare a response to one of your requests. That's uh we're turning

062in on >> how are you able to respond to the requests or how are you able to even get these numbers if you can't even respond to our requests? >> The we we have the numbers in our system. Um the way that um you wanted to see the numbers um is not how we keep our reports. So, we're putting it into the format that um your office had sent to us. >> It's not my It's not my um request. It's not my format. You folks submitted this signed by the superintendent on March 23, 2023 to Senator Dela Cruz. And this is what this is what you folks provided. And it's over a billion dollars worth of projects. >> And I asked this past year, over eight months ago, I asked for you to update this

063list. and I have still not gotten it. So, I'm not sure why you're not able to produce it. >> Well, they the office sent you an update. Um, but it it didn't have one of the the columns you wanted. >> It had hardly Yeah, a couple columns. >> So, we adding those columns on in the response. >> Wait, how did this get produced if you don't have this on your record that you could just update it? >> So, that that past one which was to Senator Dela Cruz for Wham. >> Yes. >> Yeah. the the person who prepared it at the time, you know, they he added those columns on his own by taking it out of the system, but it's we don't have like you press a button and that report comes out. So,

064we're sort of doing it again for this response you want on Monday. So, it's taking them some time, but they're working on it. >> Okay. See, that's what I have a hard time understanding. Somebody comes in, they put together a comprehensive report, and somewhere along the line, you don't have the structure to com to continue to upgrade this comprehensive report. So, how do you know where we're at? >> We because we can't even update this. >> Yeah, we we at DOE know where we are with our contracts. Uh reporting it in that way, that particular way, that takes some effort. Well, this particular way shows design and obligated funds, design and obligated the date of it, the construction obligated funds, construction obligation date, the status, and the project completion shortage. So, it's not, you know,

065this rocket science um columns that we're asking you unreasonably to to to provide to us. This is this is standard information and you've already provided it to us two years ago. I've asked for this eight months ago and obviously I didn't have any uh confidence that I would get it. So I asked BNF for this information. BNF provided it to me almost a week later less than a week later. Although they didn't have the rest of the columns because they said only DOE can give me that columns and they weren't able to give it to me by schools. So if BNF can provide this within a week, I'm not sure why DOE having already done it in 2023 is not able to each year update it so that you folks know where you're at and

066that you can anticipate that we're going to ask this. >> That's that's a good point and I don't think the request is unreasonable, but it is a different report what Dags prepared. >> Yeah. Well, I don't want what Dags prepared. Yeah, >> but Dex did prepare um he gave they gave the account title, the lap state, the amount appropriated allotted and claims balance and and [clears throat] they didn't give all the others that we wanted. >> Yeah, we're preparing the the columns. Yeah, >> but it worries me that you folks is like recreating the wheel for some of these project. I I mean eight months ago that we asked this, >> right? When we reported initially to you, it did not include the last two columns. That is not on the DAGs report, but we're

067adding it in. We'll get that to you by Monday. I'm sorry it's taking so long. >> Okay. I'm I'm just concerned because you know if and I'm sure you were present at Friday's hearing when we heard from the auditor and the auditor was very much concerned about the incomplete loosely organized inconsistent collection of school level practices that is incapable of being um meaningfully evaluated. Um, in the heat abatement they said unable to verify what was spent, where it was spent, what it was spent on due to poor recordkeeping, provide inconsistent, incomplete, and sometimes contradictory information. The auditor also further noted that DOE was never able to provide basic details about the program. So you can see where there seems to be this common thread running through. So, and the findings are not just isolated to

068this programs that they talk about. that seems to mirror the committee's own experience in requesting information and it's not just this information but you know number of types of information but I mean this is the largest CIP portfolio right CIP portfolio and if you guys can't have a a regular update of what's going on I'm not sure how we can proceed forward and it's no wonder we have this billion millions of million dollars worth of projects that's I don't know that's sitting there. Well, we're not sure what's happening. >> Oh, no, no, no. That that those projects are not sitting there. Those are encumbered projects that are in process. >> Yes, but they're not done. And some how Okay, tell me how many of these projects is in this? How old are some of them?

069How many? Can you give me a breakdown? >> Those are I don't have it in front of me, but we can provide that. We we let's see. We did uh >> Okay, this is my point. >> We've asked for this before. We asked for it again. We put it on the hearing notice. We asked it for you to provide it to us. You didn't provide it. You said you were going to try to get it to us by Monday. You knew that we're going to ask these questions. So, I mean, how can you measure where you folks are at if you don't know? Like, you know, we have 300 projects that have been on the books since 2016. Mhm. >> Well, we have 18, right? We have it. >> We have it in different formats

070and we can provide it to you in that format with the extra columns. Staff is working on adding those two extra columns. >> Okay. Right now, I'm only asking for you for the number and what how old it is. >> Yeah. Off the top of my head, I but we can provide that. >> Okay. So, at any given time, you don't know what's how old these projects and how long they've been sitting on the books. >> Well, they have it in the system, right? So I have to get a >> Yeah. But but you guys as the administrators have to know this in order to react and ask the legislature, are you going to ask us for funding to complete these projects? You have enough money to complete these projects. You have to take it

071from somewhere else. You understand what we're asking, >> right? Right. So we have it in our budget that was approved by the board of education um what projects we're asking to fund in the various buckets um that that were approved. I I can go through those. >> No, I I've seen that. What I want to know is how many of them are on this list. >> How many of on this list is going to be completed because the superintendent told us that there's 42 projects over a million dollars. They only did three 23 only did 23. I'm not sure how you how many you can actually complete in a year, but obviously and that's just those projects. These are these are projects that have been on the books again. Can you tell me what's the

072earliest project date that's been the oldest that's been on the books? >> Yeah, for for those particular projects that um superintendent mentioned that's from um is that that was ending in December and from July June. So it's a period of time but we report to the board um frequently on you know periods of time and how many projects we completed and the value of that understand yeah understand but I'm just making a point that there's 42 [clears throat] over a million and you folks completed 23 right and then you have these and again I have no idea where this are where this is at uh at this timeline but just the fact that are you aware of what is the oldest project that's sitting here. >> The >> what date? >> The the letter that

073we provided to you previously would have that on it. Uh let's see. >> That's the one you have in front of you. Do I have that one? >> June 17, 2025. All this letter says is, "Thank you for your memorandum of May 30th, 2025. State Department improvement projects attaches the list shown this they didn't tell me any date doesn't tell me when the latest project how old it is >> yeah we don't I mean I can I can provide to you that to you what we've looked at so far are the projects um um from 2005 uh moving forward to bring bring us sort of up to date with the monies that um we can put to work for us and the department um you know we're still looking at um the projects that are

074older than that we're preparing report for the board on that. Um, and that takes some takes some time to pull all that out, but we're working on that. >> Okay. How long has these projects been on the books? Some of these projects, I mean, this goes back, right? Yeah. >> 2016. Longer than that. >> They go back to the the time when uh DAGs, you know, the point in time when DAGs transferred to the department. >> Okay. Which is when? >> 2005. Yeah. Yeah. >> So, since 2005 to now, >> you folks haven't figured out what what's how long it's been and what where we're at. I mean, the board hasn't asked for it till now. Only now you guys are doing this. >> No, we've always known. We have a list of all the

075projects, but the way that we prioritize, you know, which projects are moving on the list is part of a process that um we go through every year annually with the CASSE's um and principles to look at needs and that we've you know we evaluate through the buckets that the legislature allowed us to create. So we prioritize based on equity need uh you know uh it's in different uh categories health and safety you know >> ADA compliance you know project completion u you know >> but you do that every year right >> every year >> okay so in 2025 2020 went 2005 right you said so in 2005 you went through that probably >> no but this is >> well chair if I may um uh most recently the facilities branch leadership um have joined the

076department I believe in the last two years. So uh over the last two years when I share that you know we're looking at our data systems we're looking at the what we need to improve on the transparency the accountability those are all things that uh facil our facilities office as well as our IT section is u really looking at the data systems and I believe that there are improvements that we need to make within our data systems so that we can provide what you're asking for um but just in in the last two years is when we actually had a changeover um we've also shifted did uh as as deputy had shared moving to the lump sum buckets that was I believe a year ago year two years a year a year ago so um

077I I fully understand what what the committee is asking for uh we are definitely evaluating the systems that we have um we have improvements we need to make uh and and that is coming >> okay I I think you're missing what we're asking we're not just asking for a list of projects Okay, we we're asking for this to understand where you folks are and how are you managing the projects? How are you managing the monies? And if you you don't have this data available, if you're not it's you know it's like you're so focused on delivering it to us but you're not focusing on how you are approaching this. So you do have these meetings yeartoyear but each year every school will tell you what their priorities but back in 2005 they had these priorities

078and in 2006 they had priorities and every year they were priorities and they were all needed health and safety needed that many of them are sitting here incompleted right they've been completed for years and years and years and now every year you have a new set you have now this 42 over a million last year you had so many you're asking asking for more next year and yet again this is sitting >> and they tell me it's over a billion dollars. Yeah. >> So I'm just saying that again it's not the assignment isn't necessarily just getting us the data but if you're not able to give us the data then how are you able to then manage this live projects not that they manage the data but manage the projects >> right? So those >>

079if you don't know where you're going how are you going to get there? >> Yeah. So the we we have the data we know we know what the projects are. We're putting it into a format that's taking some time. But the way that those projects are funded is when project funding becomes available. So that so that that is the value of the the contracts that are encumbered. But >> okay, >> the design and and different parts of the process. >> How many how much have you asked for the the legislature this year and last year for projects that's on this list? >> For all of those projects? >> No, I'm just asking how many of these projects did you ask for funding? So you could complete >> we have a completion lumpsum bucket that we

080asked money for and um that was part of our budget. >> Yes. But I want to know how many which projects on this list that at some point were deemed important and needed and health and safety have you come into the legislature recently to request funds so you could then complete these projects? How many do you know? So we have let's see we have 29 we have 213 CIP line item projects 97 of the projects have been contracted for design 31 have been >> No but how you're not you're not hearing the question how many of them is from this list >> um sure what we'll do we'll do is we'll take a look at what you're asking and we we'll definitely come back to the committee with it. >> Okay. No, and I appreciate

081that answer, but I'm concerned that you're only going to look at it now cuz I asked for it. You understand what I'm saying? You were not aware because if this continues to sit these and then the projects now cost more to complete, right? They probably >> don't know enough money, right, to complete. Yet you folks are asking for all these new projects to be done when you have projects that we've expended millions of dollars, a billion dollars worth, and they're not completed. And at some point, the money is wasted because now when you go back to do it, you got to do new new plans, new things, right? Because things have changed and so and the prices have gone up. So how do you how do you deal with this? and then which projects you

082got to scrap. I don't know. >> Mhm. >> I certainly don't want to have one of my schools in here that's going to get scrapped. >> And and we do have to have that hard look. Um I believe uh over those years um what was done, you know, now we need to take a look at back when um those projects were determined and were put on the the CIP list. Uh hard decisions need to be made in terms of moving forward. Uh so we will have those discussions and um make those recommendations which would include as you shared impacts to um schools and projects. >> So what will >> way back from way back when >> what will it take for you to be able to make some dent in this? >> What will it

083take for us? It's >> and have the board of have the board of education discussed this particular thing that I'm discussing not just CIP because I've watched the hearings on CIP there no no mention about this at all >> we have had discussions regarding our u list and the deferred maintenance um offline not in the board meeting but definitely that is a concern >> but shouldn't these things all be public I mean that's why you have the board of education that's why it's televised. That's why you have the meetings. This is one of the reasons why I've specifically asked for the board of regents border regions, the board of education to be here in these meetings. And I hope they all got to watch the hearing on f Friday we had last Friday because I

084don't recall ever that the board took up any of the audits. I don't believe the board even asked for the auditor to come and explain to them about the audits, you know. Well, you did. >> That's not true. >> Okay. You can I'll let you come up and you can you can make it um you can respond. >> Yeah. What you want me to respond to? >> Well, okay. Have you folks met with the auditor on the audits? >> We personally didn't meet with the audit, but the heat abatement audit was on the board agenda as well. And then what the board usually does is they hear a report on the um results of the audit and the recommendations of the auditor >> and then what the department's going to do. >> Okay. And then

085generally what we do is on a time certain basis whether it's 3 months or 6 months or whatever the case may be put it on the agenda again and say okay this was what has been the progress on the driver ed one that one I take responsibility for because on that audit and as you well know senator this is an issue that's been around for 60 years >> this is a issue that uh 25 years ago that there was a recommendation that there be rules and it really came to light in 2022 when a resolution was introduced by representative Hashimoto calling for that audit. >> But as I read the the findings of the audit, a lot of it concerned the department of transportation because the department of transportation is responsible for certification of driver

086instructors and so on. Now this takes place on the school campuses. I get >> it's a 50/50. I mean the DOE had their responsibility in terms >> I get that I get that and so that one yeah again I take responsibility why we didn't put it on the agenda but the board is in receipt of audits right both internal and external >> and then the board makes a decision whether or not it rises to the level that it should be on the board agenda because as you all know many agenda many audits if you look at the conclusion they tend to be sort of benign conclusions right they're not um you know things look okay whatever you know So, so that's a >> but if we're spending money for these audits or for these studies

087or these reports and I think it deserve the public deserves to know instead of get put it on a shelf deserve to know what was the outcome. What did we spend $50,000 on it? >> Well, the audit for >> the auditor puts these reports. >> No, I know that >> on on So, it is publicly available. >> No, but you folks aren't discussing it. there are a lot of issues on the the driver's ed um and you know and not to have the auditor actually come in and present and explain why the why they >> well let me senator let me let me u put it in a certain context yeah because um I think one of the things that's been interesting for me after serving here for 30 years and then getting on the

088board >> I think there are three fundamental fact differences between the boards and by the way as you know there are 15 executive departments In the state, not everyone has a board. >> In fact, a minority has a board >> and only two have independent boards >> that have the ability to hire the leadership. Okay. So, you have the 15 executive departments. Okay. So, then when it comes to the board of education, part of the challenge I find compared to here was that board meets 11 times a year. That's the equivalent of the legislature meeting two weeks. Your first two weeks in the legislature is the equivalent of the board meeting over the course of the year. And so I don't know how much the legislature would accomplish in two weeks relative to what the

089board can accomplish in a year meeting 11 times. Second difference is the staff challenges. Each of these senators have two year round staff. That's the equivalent of the board of education. I had 18 staff. When I came on the board, there were three staff including one support staff. So two professional staff. So there's that staff kind of challenges as well. We don't have an SMA. We don't have an LRP. We don't have the kind of capacity much less year round analyst like the money companies have. So that's a challenge as well. And then third is the sunshine law. You know uh the sunshine law I can understand the rationale for but it's creative. It's a big challenge. I am so used to you are as well in this building. If I want to know how

090you're going to vote on a bill, I just go up and ask you. I can't do that. I can't go up to a board member, say, "Hey, what do you think about this on an item that's going to be on the agenda that violates sunshine law?" When I was here chairing the committee, I could say, "Oh, I'm going to defer this bill until next Wednesday. Work on it, come back." The board simply cannot do that. I have to we have to defer for a month. Right? So, we have all these challenges. Now, look, >> it may seem as excuses. Yeah. But I'm saying sitting where I sit now relative to where I was before um I see more. And then part of it is personal, you know. Um I've never served on a board. Maybe

091you have. I've never served on a board before the 2,000 employees in a budget over $2.2 billion. I never have. I served on a number of boards included in the past where the budgets were so small that we could go over the postage line item. We could go over the printing line item in a budget of 2.2 billion. We don't unpack that budget page by page looking at hundreds of worksheets. In fact, even the subject matter committees in the legislature does not do that. The health committee doesn't walk through the $700 million DO budget. >> Well, they should. >> That's not my call. >> Well, that's not your call. So, I'm just saying we have our challenges here. I mean, you know, I have to I don't I only do this committee. I said ways

092that means the entire state. I don't just have DOE. You have only DOE. I don't have We don't have DOE. Okay. I mean, you have just the education plan. So, if you're comparing, I'm just going to compare. And yes, you meet once a month, but you folks have the ability to meet more than once a month. Nothing stops you from calling other meetings. >> Oh, no. No doubt. No doubt. But okay, let me give you a sense of that. Yeah. We have three standing committees as you well know. Okay. Finance and human resources and um what you call student achievement committee safar business. But this is a volunteer board. >> Understand? >> And we have three board members that work full-time as well. >> And so, and we know that and we ask them in

093the in the confirmation. >> By the way, I'm not asking for your understanding or forgiveness. >> I'm just saying there's such has to be some awareness >> the challenges. So, okay, >> I want you to know that I am very much aware and we very much appreciate the the volunteeress of people serving, but we ask at the confirmation hearing, do you have the time? Are you willing to serve? You know how much you have to put in. I tell them, you got to raise up roll up your sleeves. It's not one one meeting a month. And they all and they all agree. So, I'm just saying, you know, we do go through those steps. So, I appreciate what you're saying. Look, I could show you my calendar. I can tell you in the last six

094months of last year, I attended 25 all day meetings, summits, conferences, whatever, cafeteria managers meetings, whatever. >> I can show you the same as well. >> Okay. >> As a volunteer, >> I I participated in well over two and a half dozen conference calls, Zoom calls, and whatnot that lasted at least two hours. That's in the last six months. That's not counting the six community meetings that the board does. That's not common board meeting. >> So what are you what are you saying? You don't want >> I'm saying that I'm saying that as a volunteer board, right? >> That if the expectation that it's a full-time position, that is very challenging. And I think in I think all boards and commissions, the 50some boards and commissions in the state, if that was a requirement that

095you put in that kind of time um as it is, it's very challenging to find people that will serve on these board. >> Well, nobody said that. I asked about the audits, two audits of whether you guys >> No, no, you didn't just ask about two. >> I did. I asked about two audits. you were inferring that why doesn't the board have a hearing I have put on the agenda every single audit that comes before the board because you just mentioned it's tax dollars should be transparent >> well I not you didn't just mention the two >> okay well I I introduced measures that we have to hear every single one that we spend money on if we're going to spend the taxpayers dollars on these studies they have a right to know what what

096came about and what the board or whoever asked for it or whoever was about resulted. Okay. So, I'm not saying they have to come 24/7, but to have the auditor come and present. I just asked that question whether or not you folks were aware because there were some very >> You have had the officer come to the meeting. >> So, we didn't have him come for the abatement. We applied >> and you didn't even have the one on the driver's license. And I only raised that because not like you said, not every audit will rise to that level. But in that situation, there were some very scathing things in it regarding the performance of the department and of DOT. >> And as I mentioned earlier, >> I personally take full responsibility for not scheduling >>

097the um the I mean what they >> driveration. Yes. Yes. So um you know >> and the whole point of this is just that as as the board of education and you folks are the ones that overseeing DOE that I think you guys need to be aware doesn't necessarily mean that every one of the members are going to be here but they can watch the video but aware and then take that into consideration as they are deliberating or as they have the board in front of them that would raise some questions and when those questions aren't raised then it makes me wonder why not or are they even aware that this is going on? Right. >> Point is well taken, Senator. The way I look at it though, it's a partnership. I just think whenever

098we have a challenge in our community, education certainly is a challenge. And um if you're going to resolve it, it's going to take actually more than a legislature, more than the board of education, more than the executive branch. It's going to take all the various stakeholders in our community, the business community, the philanthropic community, teachers, students, and so on and so forth. We should all be at the table. when I look at >> which is what we're trying to do here. >> Well, that's one venue, right? Anformational briefing is one venue, but there are other venues as well. You know, like I said, the board has sponsored six community meetings. That's another venue. >> The school community councils which exist in schools >> and I'm sure you all attend your school community in your district.

099That's another venue to get a sense of what's the issues facing that >> but they don't necessarily have oversight like you folks do. members. You have >> this is my point. My point is that there are many ways to get information. There are many ways to develop partnerships. There are many ways to collaborate on issues that concern all of us. >> Yes. But so I don't think >> but we're talking about the budget. We're talking about uh statutory um bills and so forth on how we govern. So that there therein lies a difference. Okay. So yes it is. I mean, we have that we have that responsibility uh and you have a responsibility of oversight. And so, if the legislature have concerns and concerns about the budget, you folks got to be concerned because at

100the end of the day, we make those decisions, right, on how much money, how much budget, how many board members is going to be on the board of education. I mean, all of those kinds of decisions are being made here. So I think we are, you know, a little bit um the information that you gain here is very different from all the other um community type meetings that we have. You know, I go to the neighborhood boards as well. >> My comments in no way, shape or fashion tries to diminish the importance and the relevance of the information that process gets. I think I'm fairly aware that >> it should be. >> Yeah. So, but again, you are concerned in your particular case in front of the education committee today, rightfully so, is concerned about

101this particular topic. I can tell you obviously there are other members of the legislature. They might be concerned about chronic absenteeism. They might be concerned about student achievement. They might be concerned about graduation. They might be concerned about the achievement gap particularly with Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian students. I might be concerned about the ka puning program that exists in 19 schools. I might be concerned about the learning centers that exist in 29 campuses across the state. Everybody has concerns. Everybody has priorities, right? >> And the board in my opinion serving for the last two years. >> Uh the board concerned about every just like business you all are concerned about the high cost of living. Hawaii is number one in the country in high cost of living. You all are concerned about the lack

102of affordable housing. You all are concerned about the climate change and the opioid epidemic and all the issues facing the legislature. But it's very very difficult for an individual legislator such as yourself to do something about everything. >> Mhm. >> So you focus tend to prioritize and does that mean to the extent that you don't care about the other issues? I >> I don't think so. >> No. And I and as the chair of the committee and as committee members, yeah, we are focusing on education and that is our responsibility that >> but as a state senator, you care about the state. >> Exactly. Exactly. But again, I think you missed the the sense of here. It's not just topic. It's the structural. It's the the basics on whether or not the department is able

103to deal with what's in front of them. when there are audits and there are evidence but well let me can I please finish okay I will let you yeah the um and there's evidence brought up about the recordkeeping about having information about these things and this is what I'm raising about how are we going to deal with these issues how are they going to deal with it and not just this one project but overall if there are evidence going across that's weaving through everything that these are the the shortcomings that they're having. And because of that, I think that's where the board of education comes in to say, well, are there shortcomings? Are there areas that is lacking that we need so that we can get to not just the CIP, but all the other

104issues that's out there regarding uh our public schools. So I think regardless of whose priorities are who, whose responsibility it is to do what, the discussions that we have, the community that we bring in, the fact of the matter is is you're the chair of the board of education. We are the Senate. We do what we do. Only you can do what you can do, which is hold him accountable. So this is why it's so important for the board of education members to be here because we cannot hold him accountable. We can bring him and we can bring the superintendent. We can bring the deputy superintendent here and we can have an info briefing. But at the end of the day, the fate lies with you guys. And so that's why we are asking for

105you folks and the board of regents to be here because the buck stops with you. You are the one that hires and fires. You are the one that looks at the strategic plan. You are the only one that in my opinion can hold the department accountable in the sense of what's happening with our schools. You guys don't get the calls from the parents. We get the calls. You guys are not the ones that have to go to the neighborhood board meetings and answer for why the chronic absenteeism, why the buses are cancelled, why people are why students are graduating with third and fourth grade reading level. We have to do it. And so when we ask you to bring you here, when we ask you to come here, it's not because we're trying to publicly

106humiliate anybody. It's because we want answers. We want execution. We don't want excuses. We don't want you to tell us how many days you spent in the calendar year going to this conference and that conference. At the end of the day, we want what you say to be reflected in real results. In real time results, not you'll get back to us. Now, we got to look at the data, but that's what we hear every single time. Meanwhile, kids are graduating not even ready to go into the workforce or into career pathways. So, we have to hold you guys accountable. So, when we want you here, it's because yeah, we do believe it's your responsibility, Roy, to be in the room, if not you, another member. And at the end of the day, if a board

107member is not able to be present to hear what's happening in the room or for at the least watch the recordings, then maybe it's time to resign. Maybe it's time to look for new board members because Hawaii is in a place where education is failing and we are going to feel that in real time in future time when these students start to go out to the workforce. And so this is why I want to bring it back to why we are asking you to be here. Roy, I greatly appreciate you coming in person. Thank you very much. But to be honest, you signed up for this. I signed up for this. Nobody feels sorry for me when I have to leave here at midnight. Nobody feels sorry for me when I have to drive in

108traffic waking up at four o'clock in the morning. So, I'm sorry, but you're not going to get any kind of pity party on this side. What we want is results. >> And if we have to do this every single time, then we're going to do it every single time. And if you have to be here every time, I believe that that's the passion and that's the genuiness that you want to serve our students and our education system. So, I just want to make very clear here that everybody here is making a commitment and they're making a sacrifice. But what you're not going to get from this committee is sympathy. What you're not going to get what you're not going to get from this committee is a I feel so bad. You're not going to get

109that here. >> Thank you, Senator. You know, I I'm not um asking for the sympathy. I I am though when you say that our education system is failing, I don't believe that's a correct statement. I do believe that we have areas to improve in 100%. We have areas that we need to improve in and we have areas that we're doing well. Um I think when folks say that our education system as a as a whole is failing, I really believe that um we have folks in the schools and the complex in the state that are working extremely hard, extremely hard despite many different challenges. And um to say that our system is failing when we're looking at our scores, our positive trajectory over the last 20 years, that we're improving on the pandemic recovery. We're

110leading the we're leading the country in reading and mathematics. We still have improvements 100%. I tell you, we're always looking for continuous improvement. But I don't believe that our system is failing. We have areas to improve in most definitely, but not failing. >> You guys are failing. And if you can't acknowledge that, then you're in denial. Talk to any parent in my district. Talk to any educator that's teaching in the schools that are working overtime, having to pay for supplies out of their own pocket. You go talk to them. Don't talk to your deputy superintendent. Don't talk to the casses. Talk to the people that are on the ground. And right now, DOE has unspent CIP funds of $2.7 billion. Not only you have obligated CIP funds according to our records of $1 billion. Now

111you can't even come to us and give us a basic breakdown of how many construction contracts is that, how many design contracts is that? How much purchase orders is that? Are you even factoring out factoring in the increases, the escalation costs, the construction management, the change orders? So if we can't even trust you to bring the basic data here so we can help you to help our kids and you're just telling me which to me is a little insulting if I might add when you parade that the education is leading in the nation. So I'm forced to believe that maybe it's just my district that's failing. Maybe you guys are failing why I and you're not admitting that. So I don't know what districts are really thriving but according to my community you guys are

112failing. And as I shared, Senator and I we met together, right, about your the Nanakuli NYI complex area, um I shared with you the different things that are going on and the hard work that the teachers and the school leaders are doing to help move the schools forward. How we're working with community members to help move the school forward. Um that is all happening. When when you say that um we're failing though as an entire system throughout the state, we definitely have areas we need to improve in. I started out today when we talked about CIP that we definitely have areas we need to work on and we recognize that. We are committed to moving forward to ensure that our system does better for our students and for our families and communities. We do. Um

113but we I don't believe when we talk about as a system everyone is working extremely hard extremely we are not fa we I don't believe that we are failing we have areas to improve in most definitely but as a public education system in Hawaii um over the last several years we have made gains >> okay well when you are only able to complete 23 CIP projects in one year I'm sorry but that's a failure >> we have areas to improve improving most definitely. >> We don't have time for you guys to improve. We need execution and we need it now. We need it today. When you folks say that you have 800 contracts accumulating 592 million and that yet our records show that you have 1 billion in obligated CIP funds and then the audacity

114to come back and ask us for more money for more CIP funds when you can't even do the work that you said that you were going to do. Now you have to re-evaluate the CIP list. Okay. Well, what's priority? Okay. What's a health risk? What's a safety hazard? We already told you what it was when we asked for the CIP request. So again, you folks are making this way more complicated. And who is suffering at the end of the day? Our teachers, our principles, our admin, and especially our students. So we have audits that are justifying our frustration here today. We have parents that continually berade my office with complaint after complaint. So, we have our sources that are very factual that tell us that this system, again, I'm going to continue to use this

115word over and over again, failing. But the only person that seems to it not be failing is you and your administration. So, you're not taking in our consideration when we tell you the areas that you're failing in. All you do is continue to bring us maybe another column or maybe another spreadsheet or maybe another report. Maybe another executed project will be good. Maybe [clears throat] more teachers in the classroom that are licensed. Maybe getting kids to our our schools by not cancelling buses. Maybe that. Thank you, chair. Let me just This is written June 13, 2025. DE called for 12 new speeds and a decade ago. It's built two. And I don't know if this is a whose article is a it's a is it a civil beat article? I don't know. It might have

116been been a civil beat article. Um but I think that makes a point. Um you have to remember DOE takes up onethird of the state budget. Onethird annually. So again, you know, where's the efficiency? Where are areas that we can streamline? We cannot sustain that kind of funding as we go forward as the federal government cuts back. How are we going to fund some of these things that's required of us? So we really have to start looking at streamlining on being more effective and being accountable. We have to hold people accountable because in the private sector when you don't when you don't you don't accomplish what you're supposed to fire you. But not in not in government. We don't. And so we are trying our best uh to be able to take care especially our

117students in our public schools because they are our future and if we're not going to be able to deliver the kind of education and when you say failing I've been to conferences where our country is far behind other countries and I and I think I shared that I shared that art point with you on how we're behind China and we're behind behind all these other countries. We're running far behind. So when you say you're leading the nation, our nation is far behind everybody else. So I think we have to take that also into consideration on where we're at on the spectrum. And and it's troubling. And you're right, there are many areas in which you can improve on. But if you are the the parent of a child that has failed, then you are failing,

118right? If they are failing, then you have somewhere somebody's failed that child. So it's relative when when I'm sure um senator talks about failing. So but we do we do know that there are many many hardworking um people in our public schools state at our university in in our in our agencies. Yes. Many uh and we have those that maybe are not doing what they're supposed to be doing. And that's where we need to really look at and be accountable. And the audits show us, if you read the audit, it shows us that there are a lot of incompetence going on. And and it's sad to point that out. And I know I'm probably gonna get headlines about me saying some of this stuff, but how do we get how do we get change? How

119do we get people to take these things seriously and and let's do something about it? Not just tell me, oh, this is the way we've been doing all these years. This is according to the books. Forget the books. Let's make changes if we need changes. We cannot do the same thing over and over again. and expect to have a different result. >> Right. >> 100% Senator and and we are committed to improvement as I shared earlier when we started that um we recognize the areas of deficiency that we're work that need to be improved. Uh and as the leadership in facilities has started in the last couple of years, we are we have did the assessment, the analysis and we are moving forward and we're putting the systems in place. And so I I share

120that when we start and we're committed to continuing to do that. >> Superintendent, I hear you and I've been hearing you, but it doesn't match up to what's happening. And especially when I see stuff going on in my schools, in my district, and we're warning you and telling you this is not a good decision that it's like ignored. Oh, well, you know, they deserve a chance. A chance what? To continue to fail. A chance what? So that the students at that point in time is is going to be at a detriment. No. I mean, we there's got to be some hard decisions that's got to be made. It's not like the same before, you know, we're just going to go along to get along. That's not going to happen. >> And >> let me ask

121you this. Do you think it's okay that seniors in high school graduate with a fourth grade reading level? >> I don't believe, Senator, that um is not okay. >> It's not okay. >> So, that's what's happening and it's happening on your watch. It happened last year. It's happening the year before. It'll probably happen this year and many years to come. So, this is why the pressure is on because the longer that you folks stay talking, meeting, discussing, finding things to be very inconvenient, kids are graduating with that fourth grade reading level. I I really want that to hit because >> the detriment it's not acceptable but it's happening and it's happening on your watch and I told you this and I told you the people that are in position that are allowing this to happen

122>> certificate >> but I told you the people that are in position that are allowing this to happen and it's happening on your watch and the more you continue to allow these people to be in that position it's on you now and we will continue to put the pressure on you because you're talking that we're leading we're not leading in anything. Maybe in illiteracy, but we're definitely not leading the nation in anything. So when I say that and you acknowledge it's unacceptable for kids to gra a a 12th grader in high school is graduating with a fourth grade reading level. Okay, that should really start to have you trigger changes in your department. people in the position reach out to you that are allowing this to happen. >> Let's talk about what what you just

123alleged. >> We have talked about this. We have talked about this, Keith. And until the people that are in the position that are tolerating this and allowing this to happen, >> it will be this way every single time, Keith. And I don't want it to be. All you need to do is start making some real decisions to have real results that can reflect our schools in real time. I just got a call from a parent whose kids is special need that the teacher did not show up and then another parent who also is in special needs that they switched the teachers. You can't do that with children that have special needs. You can't disrupt the environment. So again, this is all happening on your watch. >> Senator, I I will take a look into that.

124Definitely. Um, and each situation is unique and and different. I'm not sure what the circumstances are related around the the two examples that you just gave, but let's meet. I we can find I can find out about those two specific examples. >> Okay. But what are you going to do about it? >> I don't need to meet with you. Just tell me what you're going to do about it. >> I wouldn't know what to do about it unless I know the specifics of the situation. >> I just told you the specifics. You don't need to meet with me. I told it. It's on the record. Everybody heard it in this room watching. Everybody heard it. What are you going to do about it? That's the only thing I need you to do. You don't have

125to tell me. Just do it. >> I need to know what's who's a student. I need to know what the situation was and I definitely will address it. I need that information though. If not, I wouldn't know where to start. >> Yeah. But superintendent, I'm sorry I have to chime in. Yes, I've been I've been dealing with you from June and you know the specifics. You knew everything. We've met and met and met and we weren't able to solve it. you weren't able to make the decision and we finally came to a point and I'm talking about Kayi. You finally came to a point in December that you know we're letting the fourth grade but you folks put obstacle against obstacle and obstacle about cancelling a 9-year program. So I'm just saying just because we

126meet with you and you look into it but you don't make the decision you don't pull the trigger. >> Senator that respectfully that program has been uh re-implemented >> re-implemented not in the original form it was in. It's only for the fourth grade. After all the damage was done and after the whole area got all back with weeds and so forth and everything that was done for nine years and the Cass who approved it all nine years, all of a sudden they want to cancel the program and they canceled it without any kind of of reason why. And then when they gave me the reason, it was a false reason because there was no such policy. And the Cass had their nerve to tell me there was a policy when that policy wasn't even relevant.

127What? They think I'm not going to look into the policy? >> Nope. We believe you will look into it, senator, and that's all we did. Right. Look, we we took your concern. We looked into it. >> Yes. And then you put another obstacle in front of me. The program is reimplemented and and and we look forward to working together with you, sir. >> How many months was that it took? >> So, I'm just saying that, you know, I'm not I'm not fully aware of of the situation she brought in. I can only say my situation and I'm going through another situation with you on that. again hoping that you're going to make a right decision and and you're going to do something about it and not just look into it. Thank you. >> Okay. We

128we had hoped that we would get into more detailed stuff at this point, but I think for now um unless there's any other um questions that you have. No, we thank you for being here and hope that the next meeting will be more productive as we move forward. Um because we are going to have many measures and again when measures come up it's probably going to be as a knee-jerk reaction to some of the things that members felt that is not being accomplished. So when these measures come up we'll be able to probably discuss some of these things because I'm sure there's going to be a CIP bill. I'm sure there's going to be a bill in governance. There's going to be all of these bills to address areas in which legislators and again other

129legislators that not on this committee have come and talked to me about the concerns that I've been raising in this meeting. So this is this is not isolated to just a few of us and I think you folks know that. But you know thank you very much. I know you have a hard job and so hopefully we'll be able to do some make some tough decisions and and make things happen >> and we look forward to continuing to work with the legislature. Senator, thank you. >> Thank you. Your turn.