Department of Education

A bill cracking down on predators working in Hawai‘i schools awaits Gov. Josh Green's signature, according to a Friday news release.

Senate Bill 3207 would allow DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi's salary to be set by the state Board of Education. Critics of Hayashi's current salary say the superintendent should not be making a higher wage than the governor.

The Masayuki Tokioka Excellence in School Leadership Award comes with $25,000, of which $10,000 serves as a personal award and $15,000 is appropriated to a school project of the educator's choice.

Jade Pham of Oʻahu and Rory Inouye of Hawaiʻi Island are among the 75 other recipients nationwide who have received the Milken Educator Award so far.

The pre-construction of the new building at Helemano Elementary School is slated to begin this year.

Lahaina’s King Kamehameha III Elementary School was damaged beyond repair in the August fire. Since then, students have moved locations several times. HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol reports how the school community joined to bless a new temporary campus, which will open for learning on April 1.

A bill to provide universal free school meals in Hawaiʻi is once again in jeopardy at the state Legislature. The Senate Committee on Education needs to schedule a hearing for House Bill 1775 by Monday for it to move on this session.

Stanford economist Eric Hanushek led the research, which projects that school closures and distance learning over the shutdown period cost the state about $31 billion in economic losses.

Thousands of students in Hawaiʻi already take advantage of programs for free or discounted school meals, but access often depends on a family’s income. HPR's Mark Ladao has more.

The state legislature is moving House Bill 2083 forward, which would give the DOE the ability to incentivize Hawaiʻi public schools to locally source their meals. HPR's Mark Ladao has the story.