Enhance Quality of Life

Improve Employment, Education & Investment Opportunities
:Foster Sustainable Tourism
:Economic Diversification & Capital Investment
:Expanding Agriculture
:Leveraging Our Public Schools & Higher Education System
:Improving Our K-12 Public Education & Facilities
:Private-public-labor partnerships for education & workforce improvements to match local workforce present & future needs

Upgrade Infrastructure and Review Our Master Planning Process

EMC Recommendations

Summary of Recommendations

2005 Final Report

Data:

• Average age of public schools is 59 years.
• Total number of schools is approx. 242
• No. of schools under 11 years of age --16 (2-Kauai; 3- Mililani; 4 BI; 5-Leeward; 2-Maui).
• About 50 schools were operating over their designed capacity, school year (SY) 04-05.
• By SY ‘09-‘10 The public school system is expected to be operating under its full capacity by about 28,000 enrollments.
• New schools planned:  Two each in 2006, 2009 and 2010.
• Teacher shortage reported SY ‘04-‘05, about 400 teachers.
• Annual repair and maintenance required for public schools is $100-$120 million per year (DAGS).
• The 2004 DOE backlog of repair and maintenance was $468 million.

Challenges

• Increasing Demand for New Schools.  In recent years, new residential development catering to younger families in outlying areas including Ewa, Central Oahu and growth areas on the neighbor islands have increased the demand for new schools in those growth areas. This demand strains the state’s capital improvement budget. 
• Pockets of Excess Capacity.   Elsewhere, in more established neighborhoods, the children of the large baby boom generation (the “Boomlet”) are moving through the school grades and into college. The students behind the Boomlet are a smaller population and this is leaving scores of elementary schools below capacity.  The issue of “under capacity” in public schools facilities is positive for lower student ratios but results in seriously underutilized facilities.  In some cases the challenge may be to consolidate students from one or more schools into a single school that can reach optimum utilization.  In many other cases the best approach may be to supplement an under capacity school with children from other areas of the county, especially if the school establishes specialties in particular fields like arts, music, science, etc.
• Maintenance & Retrofitting Issues.  With the average age of facilities at nearly 60 years, it is costing more and more to maintain older buildings that were constructed before air conditioning was an option and lack the infrastructure needed to support computers, networks, audio-visual technology and distance learning.  They were also not built with an eye toward modern security issues, fire safety systems and ADA requirements.
• Underutilization.  Most public school facilities are used only during the workweek with a few used at night and occasionally during weekends for adult classes or community meetings.  This means most facilities are providing no return to value outside of school hours.  In addition, many older schools sit on prime urban land that has considerable potential for development.  Such a process, if conducted with community input, has the potential to provide enormous return to the state, the education system and the communities involved. 
• Lack of an Entrepreneurial Property Management Approach.  Realizing the tremendous potential of the land and facilities under DOE is probably beyond the expertise of most principals and DOE administrators.  There is a need for a source of expertise with broad private sector experience to help develop a policy and plan for better use of public education facilities.