Schools chief,
board agree
on contract

The Board of Education
allots $35,000 for
moving expenses

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii's public school system will have a new schools superintendent Sept. 1.

The Board of Education and new superintendent Paul LeMahieu agreed on a contract last night that gave him as much as $35,000 in moving expenses, in addition to an annual salary of $90,041. The contract runs through Aug. 31, 2002.

"I'm ecstatic we've come to this conclusion -- it's a happy conclusion," said LeMahieu soon after he "gladly and with relief" accepted the board's offer and signed the contract. "There's important work ahead," he said. "Let's get on with it."

Board members approved the contract by a vote of seven to four, although they were nearly unanimous in approving amendments to the contract that included raising the cap on moving expenses to $35,000 from $20,000.

The agreement, reached after more than 3-1/2 hours of discussion, assures the public that they can count on him being here Sept. 1, said acting board chairwoman Kelly King.

"If he trusts us to move all the way from Delaware, we ought to show him that same trust," she said. "He's coming here because he has work to do. We should have faith in him."

LeMahieu returns to Delaware tonight after meeting with school and community members on Kauai. He arrived Sunday for a whirlwind week that included meeting with board members, a two-day meeting on special education issues, welcoming the Hawaii State Student Council to its annual leadership workshop and house hunting.

The board on June 12 chose LeMahieu over three other candidates to succeed Herman Aizawa, who resigned June 30. LeMahieu is the first superintendent selected from outside the school system and the state.

One of his first tasks will be to work with the board to establish goals and objectives for the 1998-99 school year, which for more than 60 schools on modified year-round schedules has already begun.

"The hard work is education, and it feels great to turn to it," LeMahieu said.

LeMahieu said he is "absolutely satisfied" and appreciative that the board had done all it could by offering him a four-year contract, the maximum allowed by law, and moving expenses that matched his estimates of what it would cost to move to Hawaii.

Other issues LeMahieu had brought up for discussion, such as housing and a pension, were taken off the table, not because the board thought they were unreasonable, but because state laws would not allow it.

He leaves a $117,000 job as head of the Education Research and Development Center at the University of Delaware to take this $90,041 position. The contract calls for his salary to be renegotiated upon any changes to the law. The board has committed to lobbying the next Legislature to lift the salary cap.

While negotiations were not difficult, LeMahieu conceded it had taken a long time. King described the negotiations with LeMahieu as "cooperative" and "problem-solving," -- which says a lot about how he operates, she said. "Our faith is in him and in the system."

Board member Ron Nakano, among four members who voted against the contract, said that while asking for moving expenses was reasonable, LeMahieu's proposal was excessive considering the new state librarian Virginia Lowell won't be getting any moving expenses from the board. Lowell is expected to officially begin Aug. 13.

All but one board member present voted against amendments to the contract.