STATE OF HAWAII
BOARD OF EDUCATION
GENERAL BUSINESS MEETING

MINUTES

Queen Liliuokalani Building
1390 Miller Street, Room 404
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Thursday, August 1, 2019

PRESENT:
Catherine Payne, Chairperson
Kaimana Barcarse
Margaret Cox
Kili Namauʻu
Dwight Takeno
Kenneth Uemura
Bruce Voss, Esq.
Tracy Wadle (military representative)
Daniella White (student representative)

EXCUSED:
Brian De Lima, Esq., Vice Chairperson
Nolan Kawano

ALSO PRESENT:
Donna Lum Kagawa, Assistant Superintendent, Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design
Alison Kunishige, Executive Director
Kenyon Tam, Board Analyst
Regina Pascua, Board Private Secretary
Irina Dana, Secretary


I. Call to Order

The Board of Education (“Board”) General Business Meeting was called to order by Board Chairperson Catherine Payne at 1:30 p.m.


II. Public Testimony on Board of Education (“Board”) Agenda Items

Board Chairperson Payne called for public testimony. There was no public testimony at this time.
Written testimony was also received and provided to the Board members. The following is a listing of the people that submitted written testimony before the testimony deadline.

Name
Organization
Agenda Item
Position
Warren Hyde PublicIV.D. Superintendent’s Report: (1) Inaugural edition of Hoʻohaʻaheo, public school proud magazine; (2) update on the development of a 10-year Board of Education and Department of Education Strategic Plan, The Power and Promise of Public Education: Focus on Ideas That Transform, theme for the 2019-2020 School Year; (3) briefing on potential exposure of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") protected information to unauthorized access"Comment


III. Approval of Meeting Minutes of July 18, 2019

ACTION: Motion to approve the General Business Meeting minutes of July 18, 2019 (Uemura/Barcarse). The motion carried unanimously with all members present voting aye.


IV. Reports of Board Committees, Board Members, and Superintendent
Human Resources Committee Chairperson Dwight Takeno reported that the committee took action on the identification and selection of a working group tasked with work ensuring that Board policies enable the Board and the Department of Education (“Department”) to collect necessary teacher retention data and implement bold teacher recruitment and retention strategies. He detailed that the committee discussed identifying stakeholder groups beyond the recommendations in the committee’s materials. He reported that the committee also took action on a work plan and timeline to ensure that Board policies support the recommendations of the Special Education Task Force and the English Learners (“EL”) Task Force’s 2018 summative reports. He noted that the committee-adopted timeline is flexible and is subject to change.

Student Achievement Committee Chairperson Margaret Cox reported that the committee took action on the identification and selection of individuals for a working group tasked with work ensuring that Board policies support student mental and emotional wellbeing, particularly to prevent youth suicide. She highlighted that Committee Member Payne volunteered as the committee’s representative to and chairperson of the working group. Committee Chairperson Cox reported that the committee also took action on a work plan and timeline to ensure that Board policies support the recommendations of the Special Education Task Force and EL Task Force’s 2018 summative reports.

Investigative Committee Chairperson Kili Namauʻu reported that the committee investigated the State Librarian’s evaluation, including setting the State Librarian’s goals and targets, determining an evaluation tool, and anything else necessary to implement the evaluation system. She reported that the committee’s findings include that the Board’s evaluation of the State Librarian should mirror its evaluation of the Superintendent and that the State Librarian should propose her State Librarian Priorities for 2019-2020 directly to the Board rather than coming from the committee as a recommendation. The committee recommends that the Board adopt the State Librarian evaluation process and begin implementation immediately with the review and approval of the State Librarian priorities, as proposed by the State Librarian, at a meeting of the Board on August 15, 2019. The committee also recommends that the Board adopt the revised State Librarian job description.

Board Chairperson Payne stated that the Board cannot deliberate or take action at this meeting but will do so at a future meeting, pursuant to Sunshine Law.

Donna Lum Kagawa, Assistant Superintendent, Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design, reported that the Department launched its inaugural edition of its annual magazine and monthly newsletter, Hoʻohaʻaheo: Public School Proud. She highlighted that the Department distributed its magazine at its Education Leadership Institute (“ELI”) conference, and Hawai‘i Business Magazine plans to run it as an insert in an upcoming issue. She noted that the Department’s monthly newsletter will be available in late August and replaces the previous Education Update newsletter. Kagawa stated that the magazine’s editorial mission is to live up to the meaning of ha‘aheo, which is “to cherish with pride,” by bolstering and sustaining pride for Hawai‘i’s education system. The Department is striving to tell stories in its magazine that grow community support and involvement by celebrating successes in school. The theme of the inaugural edition is “Ideas that Transform.” Kagawa stated that the Department is expanding on work regarding equity and innovation. The magazine includes stories from schools that exemplify the five draft promises at the center of the upcoming 2020-2030 Strategic Plan, student voice, and ways in which business leaders can support public schools.

Kagawa reviewed the 2020-2030 Strategic Plan planning process. She stated that the Department is nearing completion of phase one and has organized feedback into three components, including community feedback, state-level Department feedback, and complex-level and school-level feedback. She detailed that the community level included 29 registered groups and 645 individual participants, the state-level group included nine registered groups and 358 participants, and the complex-level and school-level included 53 registered groups and 1,945 participants. The number of individuals who provided feedback totals 2,948.

Kagawa reported that the Department recently held its ELI conference and highlighted that more than 1,000 leaders from across the state attended. Kagawa highlighted that Superintendent Christina Kishimoto gave a keynote address regarding the Department’s five promises and presented a video of the conference, including Superintendent Kishimoto’s presentation.

Kagawa reviewed the potential exposure of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) protected information to unauthorized access. She stated that on July 22, 2019, the University of Hawai‘i reported that one of its contracted vendors for Hawai‘i P-20 Partnerships for Education (“Hawai‘i P-20”), Graduation Alliance, discovered that Department and charter school student data used for college and career planning resources on the My Future Hawai‘i website may have been exposed to unauthorized access. She detailed that the data that was potentially exposed does not include social security numbers, financial, driver’s license, or health information. Kagawa noted that the Department has a list of impacted schools available on its website, and the Department is working with Hawai‘i P-20 to monitor the situation. She stated that once Graduation Alliance discovered the potential exposure, it shut down the My Future Hawai‘i website, hired a third-party cybersecurity vendor to investigate, and notified law enforcement. Kagawa stated that the Department would update the Board, families, and the public once the investigation is complete.


V. Public Testimony on Board Agenda Items

Board Chairperson Payne called for public testimony. There was no public testimony at this time.


VI. Action Items
Board Member Cox stated that the School Community Council requests were general and primarily regarding professional development. She stated that the Board receives similar requests throughout the year and should review whether it should implement a simpler waiver request process.

ACTION: Motion to approve all School Community Council requests for exceptions to collective bargaining agreements, statutory waivers, and waivers of Board policy for School Year 2019-2020 for the schools listed and described in the memoranda dated May 16, 2019 from Board Member Margaret Cox and Board designee Rodney Luke (Cox/Takeno). The motion carried unanimously with all members present voting aye.

Board Chairperson Payne reviewed the designation of Board members to an investigative committee concerning Board policy positions, Board legislative proposals, and legislative reports for the 2020 Legislative Session. She stated that the proposed approach for the 2020 Legislative Session is similar to the Board’s approach to the 2019 Legislative Session but expanded to be more proactive. In addition to establishing an ad hoc committee later in the year to engage with the Legislature, the proposed approach also establishes an investigative committee to develop the Board’s legislative policy positions, legislative proposals, and legislative reports. The investigative committee would conduct its work from August 1 to November 21, 2019, and the ad hoc committee would conduct its work from October 17, 2019 through July 2020.

Board Chairperson Payne noted that the Board starting on legislative policy positions earlier in the year allows the Board to consider proposing proactive changes to law through the Governor’s administrative package rather than simply reacting to legislation proposed by others.

Board Chairperson Payne recommended that the Board establish an investigative committee tasked with the duties described in her memorandum, and at a later Board meeting, establish an ad hoc committee to engage with the Legislature during the 2020 Legislative Session. She recommended assigning Board Members Namauʻu, Takeno, Bruce Voss, and herself to the investigative committee, with Board Chairperson Payne serving as committee chairperson.

Board Member Voss stated the Board would only be successful at the Legislature if all Board members made an effort to continue building relationships with legislators.

Board Chairperson Payne stated that legislators would like to have relationships with all Board members. She noted that legislators commented that the elected Board made an effort to maintain relationships. She noted that it might be difficult for current Board members to engage with the Legislature due to full-time positions outside of the Board, but she emphasized the importance of Board members making an effort to communicate with the Legislature.

ACTION: Motion to: (1) Establish an investigative committee (a permitted interaction group pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 92-2.5(b)(1)) tasked with: (a) Developing the Board’s legislative policy positions for the 2020 Legislative Session; (b) Determining whether the Board needs to request any statutory changes based on the policy positions; (c) Developing the Board’s legislative proposals based on that determination for the 2020 Legislative Session; and (d) Drafting any legislative reports due by the Board to the 2020 Legislature; and (2) Designate Board Chairperson Catherine Payne and Board Members Kili Namau‘u, Dwight Takeno, and Bruce Voss to serve on the investigative committee, with Board Chairperson Payne serving as chairperson (Cox/Voss). The motion carried unanimously with all members present voting aye.


VII. Executive Session
This portion of the meeting was closed under Section 92-4 and Section 92-5(a)(4) and (6), Hawaii Revised Statutes.
ACTION: Motion to move into executive session to consult with the Board’s attorney on the matter described on the agenda (Voss/Uemura). The motion carried unanimously with all members present voting aye.

The meeting recessed at 1:55 p.m. and reconvened at 2:20 p.m.

Board Chairperson Payne called for public testimony. There was no public testimony at this time.


VIII. Adjournment

Board Chairperson Payne adjourned the meeting at 2:20 p.m.