PUHI — The chasm separating divergent factions on the state Board of Education may not be able to be bridged, said Margaret “Maggie” Cox, BOE member representing Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau.
Cox was not present at a recent BOE meeting where some of her fellow members called for the resignation of chair Garrett Toguchi, but Tuesday night Cox said she is part of that minority faction concerned about what she called a lack of communication from Toguchi.
Last week, BOE member Breene Harimoto called for Toguchi’s resignation, Harimoto saying Toguchi failed to promptly inform the board of the resignation of state Department of Education Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto.
Cox said she found out about the resignation in an e-mail while she was on the Mainland.
Toguchi said he didn’t immediately disclose Hamamoto’s Dec. 28 resignation because he was trying to persuade her to stay, and also said he would not step down from his chairmanship.
Harimoto was joined in her criticism of Toguchi by fellow board members Donna Ikeda, Eileen Clarke, Herbert Watanabe, Cox and Kelly Maeshiro.
Toguchi retains the support of the rest of the board: Lei Ahu Isa, Kim Coco Iwamoto, Mary Cochran, Janis Akuna, Karen Knudsen, Carol Mon Lee and John Penebacker.
Cox, who said she has been removed from the board Negotiating Committee and Curriculum Committee for her defiance, said she and the two other BOE members who had been DOE employees in the state’s public schools “are on the outs” with Toguchi for criticizing him.
It takes seven votes, or a majority of the 13-member panel, to make any decisions, said Cox.
An important upcoming decision will be choosing a replacement for Hamamoto.
Cox said acting superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi, who has indicated interest in the permanent position, will be considered, along with other qualified applicants following a nationwide search.
Matayoshi has been given a six-month contract, and had been the deputy superintendent in charge of the application process for millions of dollars of federal funding available in the Race to the Top program for school improvement, said Cox.
The board felt having Matayoshi in place is critical now, as the Race to the Top application went to Gov. Linda Lingle for her review Wednesday, and is expected back to the DOE by today.
If the DOE’s first-round application isn’t successful, they’ll try again in April, and Cox isn’t expecting a first-round grant, she said.
The stated federal maximum request is $75 million, but the DOE’s request is for between $84 million and $85 million, she said.
The DOE would be notified in September if the April application results in release of the federal funds, she said.
Regarding the search for a new superintendent, Cox said the state Legislature needs to find funds to increase the superintendent’s salary, which now is around $150,000 a year.
“There are people that won’t come at that salary,” said Cox, saying similar-sized school systems pay superintendents three times what Hawai‘i offers.
The salary is set by the state Legislature.
Some principals in the DOE make around $150,000 a year, though Cox wasn’t one of them when she was a school principal on Kaua‘i, she said.
Watch for more stories based on Tuesday’s BOE informational meeting at the Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School cafeteria, on topics such as furloughs, the 2010-11 DOE calendar, a new BOE diploma being proposed, school budget cuts, student busing, school lunches, and more.
