HONOLULU — The superintendent of Hawaii’s statewide public school district is getting a one-year contract extension.
HONOLULU — The superintendent of Hawaii’s statewide public school district is getting a one-year contract extension.
The school board voted publicly Thursday to extend Christina Kishimoto’s contract to July 2021, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported . The board had been criticized for having done so behind closed doors last month.
A public vote was held after concern that the decision should not have been made in executive session. The board rated Kishimoto’s midyear performance as “effective” and decided to extend her contract during a special meeting on Dec. 21.
The board will reassess her performance during the final evaluation near the end of the school year, according to her midyear assessment posted online.
Her contract began in 2017. Kishimoto previously was superintendent of schools in Gilbert, Arizona, and Hartford, Connecticut. She earns $240,000 a year. She was selected out of 92 applicants.
“I dearly love this superintendent, and I think she has been leading us in the appropriate direction,” said board member Maggie Cox. “I totally, 200 percent back this lady. I think she has done a wonderful job for us.”
Board member Nolan Kawano said Kishimoto is doing a great job but he doesn’t think contracts should be extended based on a midyear assessment.
Cheri Nakamura of the Hee Coalition, which advocates for educational equity, urged the board to consider how public schools are performing on measures such as chromic absenteeism when evaluating the superintendent in the future.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
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What justifies this “superintendent’s” outrageous pay almost double what the governor gets for being not only the DOE boss but all other State agencies? And another more pressing issue is why extend her contract when in fact Hawaii’s national ranking among all 50 states is at the bottom in Reading and Math?
Air conditioning for hot classrooms that cost over $100,000 each and a bloated DOE administration that out number 11,000 teachers? Its a waste pit of taxpayer’s money in the $billions each year which never improved for over 10 years and counting. Someone’s pocket is certainly getting fatter while school children and parents including taxpayers getting the shaft.