what portion of the budget goes to updating hawaiian schools
Land pedagogy officials stressed the importance of catching kids upwards academically and bolstering student support services amid the pandemic every bit they tried to make the case to lawmakers Thursday for a $270 meg budget asking for next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The Hawaii Department of Education, which is funded mostly with state general funds and is the largest agency in terms of the number of employees, is coming into the 2022 legislative session, which starts Jan. nineteen, with some momentum from the executive role.
Gov. David Ige'due south supplemental budget proposes restoring $100.2 one thousand thousand to the DOE base budget — funds that were cutting last twelvemonth due to revenue shortfalls — and adding $32.five 1000000 to cover teacher salary differentials that were sustained this fiscal year by federal Covid assist.
"Information technology is part of the governor's financial plan on a recurring footing," DOE budget director Brian Hallett said of the bacon differentials at a budget briefing to the Senate Instruction and Means and Means committees.
Federal Relief Funds
The DOE, which counts 22,000 full-time employees, and serves roughly 159,500 students, has a remaining residual of approximately $504 meg in federal funds from the showtime round of assistance via the Coronavirus Help, Relief and Economic Security Act up to the latest circular from the American Rescue Plan Human action.
Hallett told lawmakers that the initial $43 one thousand thousand in CARES Deed coin was dedicated largely to bolstering health and safety measures in schools and supporting special didactics. The 2nd circular of $183 1000000 in federal aid helped offset general fund budget cuts while ARPA funds will largely be devoted to helping accelerate learning and students' social-emotional needs after nearly a yr and a half of distance or hybrid learning.
DOE officials also said they were looking into establishing a permanent statewide distance learning program that would extend beyond core classes and include extracurricular classes, hosted in a space that could nigh serve students beyond all islands.
"The idea is that we really want to give access to students as much equally possible as we wait at the next iteration (of virtual learning). We're keeping that mindset," said deputy Superintendent Phyllis Unebasami. The DOE began offering a statewide distance program at the start of the 2021-22 school yr, as the delta variant surged, and about 500 to 600 families are enrolled she said.
While details are yet fuzzy on this time to come model, interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said DOE is looking to replicate a physical space that would allow teachers to teach altitude learning "to exist able to support our students statewide."
DOE schools have been striking by high educatee and staff absences since the second half of the school year began as the number of coronavirus cases surged with the onset of the highly contagious omicron variant. Despite the DOE'south emphasis on keeping kids in school, some have been forced to independently pivot to remote learning.
Covid Absences
One was Oahu's Sunset Unproblematic, which switched to virtual learning this calendar week afterward nearly half of all students were absent on Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday, the schoolhouse had nine out of 21 classes in either partial or full quarantine, according to chief Eliza Elkington.
"As a principal, I am a firm supporter of in-person learning," she said. "I did everything possible I could to bring students back to in-person learning early last school yr, and I will practice the same now. I will continue to monitor the situation, and volition keep parents informed."
Hayashi, who frequently urges the importance of in-person learning despite the latest surge in Covid cases, repeated to lawmakers Thursday that all schools accept a contingency plan "to be able to shift to altitude learning in varying degrees."
"The pandemic terminal year really showed us the impact of not having students in schoolhouse," he said. "Nosotros remain resolved to keep every bit many classrooms as open as possible."
He also addressed a question by Sen. Donna Mercado Kim well-nigh the failure of several dozen DOE schools to report Covid example counts in a timely mode, with some lagging every bit far back as Baronial or September.
As of Tuesday evening, 41 of 257 schools had not reported a single positive Covid example on their campus since before winter break. By Thursday, some of those schools had updated counts that reverberate positive cases in Jan.
Failure To Report
Hayashi apologized for the undercount, telling lawmakers that schools "have been inundated," especially with Covid impacts, simply proverb at that place are "no excuses for that" and the DOE is working to get the "numbers updated every bit presently as possible."
"We are responsible to submit that, and I extend my sincere apologies for those numbers non being there," he told the lawmakers. "We'll be certain those numbers are in moving forward and that those corrections are fabricated and it volition be updated and monitored to make certain those numbers are current."
Last year the Legislature passed Senate Bill 811, which requires the DOE to written report a weekly full tally of Covid cases stemming from schoolhouse campuses.
In an email, DOE spokeswoman Nanea Kalani said the department is following up with private schools and discussing "possible solutions to help streamline and alleviate some of that brunt."
"We remain fully committed to the intent of Human action four," she said, adding the DOE launched the daily Covid dashboard in August "as an added service to families and school communities."
Only the head of the Hawaii Country Teachers Association, Osa Tui Jr., said DOE has relied on that dashboard "to further their narrative" that "schools are safe and there is little to no transmission taking place on campus."
HSTA has criticized the DOE for not coming upwardly with better plans for schools in light of surging Covid cases or providing amend guidance to schools or preparation fourth dimension to switch to remote learning.
"When some of our largest schools are not complying with the requirement to update their information, those communities are not being provided the complete motion picture of what'south taking identify on their campuses with regards to COVID prevalence," Tui said.
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Source: https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/01/doe-officials-preview-budget-priorities-to-hawaii-lawmakers/
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