Aizawa appointed as
$90,000-a-year
principal

The chairwoman of the school
board says board members should
review the decision

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

School board members should review whether the appointment of former school Superintendent Herman Aizawa as a $90,000-a-year principal "was the right thing to do," says Chairwoman Karen Knudsen.

Aizawa, who left his job Tuesday, was appointed as principal of the McKinley Community School for Adults by then-Department of Education Personnel Director Don Nugent.

Aizawa had appointed Nugent to the personnel director's job.

Nugent, who has retired, became acting superintendent last week when Aizawa went to a mainland awards ceremony and used the so-called superintendent direct power to appoint Aizawa.

That power allows the superintendent to appoint a tenured educational officer whose position is terminated or eliminated to a vacant position if he is qualified to enable him to continue in the department, said Al Suga, interim schools superintendent.

"This is a judgment call on the part of management," Suga said. "You try to match a vacant position with someone who is qualified, and if there's a match, it's carried out."

Return rights are governed by contract agreement and school regulation.

"This isn't precedent-setting," said Meredith Maeda, the department's personnel specialist.

Vacancies can be filled either by appointment by the superintendent or after the position is advertised and qualified applicants interviewed. An interview panel, which includes the district superintendent, then makes a recommendation to the schools superintendent.

Milton Shishido, superintendent of the Honolulu district, which covers McKinley School for Adults, said Aizawa was qualified for the position because he had been principal at various intermediate and high schools and had tenure.

Aizawa's contract allows him to stay at his $90,041 a year salary if he is retained in a department job.

After a year, he will be then placed into a salary range for which he is entitled.

Community school principals make $60,000 to $84,000 a year.

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Interim Maui
superintendent supporter of
community involvement

By Gary T. Kubota
Star-Bulletin

WAILUKU -- State Board of Education member Kelly King says selection of Paul Brown as interim Maui district school superintendent is the sign of something new.

District superintendents on Maui have usually been selected from a pool of administrators who have been school principals.

Brown, who has not served as a principal, has been a school renewal specialist, working with seven Maui schools to improve curriculum.

King said she supported Brown's selection and hopes he is made permanent superintendent because of his work as the Maui district coordinator for school/

community-based management.

The program is intended to involve the community, including businesses, parents, teachers, students and principals, in making decisions about a school.

King said the program has "lagged behind" on Maui and believes Brown will be able to help schools implement it.

"He doesn't mind doing the legwork of trying to unblock the barriers and obstacles," she said. "I think he'll be a lot more open to structural change."

Brown, 50, worked as a teacher in Michigan before moving to Hawaii and teaching at Mililani High School in 1987.

He has worked in education for six years on Maui.

His work in education on Oahu included a job as a resource teacher, also helping to implement school/community-based management.

"I am very much a proponent (of) and believe in SCBM and the democratic process," Brown said.

He also has served as a board member for Mediation Services of Maui.

Brown said he believes he can use his mediation skills to bring people together to find solutions to conflicts.

"We have to get much better at listening to each other and working together to figure what's best for the child."