Superintendent Keith Hayashi promised state legislators late last year that he would reform the Department of Education’s approach to school facilities management. DOE had just proposed relinquishing nearly half a billion in construction funds, and state leaders wanted greater accountability from school leaders in the new year.

Now the Hawaii Board of Education is holding Hayashi accountable in his annual review. Hayashi has identified overall real estate optimization, a strategy to improve DOE’s school facilities management and school lands, as one of his top priorities for the 2023-24 school year.

In a self-evaluation Hayashi presented to the board last week, he said he’s making effective progress on the so-called “OREO” plan. But some educational leaders say they want more details on Hayashi’s work and remain concerned the department is moving in the wrong direction when it comes to overseeing the school facilities management of over 260 campuses across the state.

Board members will conduct their own review of Hayashi’s performance in the 2023-24 school year next month. The BOE holds the power to hire and regularly evaluate superintendents, and Hayashi’s current contract lasts until the end of June 2025 and sets his annual salary at $240,000.

OREO consists of two areas of improvement: better managing projects to build and repair school facilities and developing and investing in more DOE lands.

The department typically has three years to spend its construction funds but can take several months to award bids to contractors, resulting in delayed projects and unused money. At the same time, Hawaii’s student population has steadily declined over the past decade, pushing state leaders to close small schools and consider how they can repurpose empty campuses.

“The groundwork is especially important as we face some significant challenges ahead,” Hayashi said in last week’s BOE meeting. Over the past year, he said, DOE has completed an inventory of its properties across the state.

Read the full article about school facilities management by Megan Tagami at Civil Beat.