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School choices:
Fix the roof or
the playground?

Governor wants to use funds
to handle campus repairs neglected
during the years of
state budget cuts

AROUND THE LEGISLATURE

By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

Replace leaky roofs or unsafe playground equipment?

Deciding how to dole out long-term construction funds for public schools may boil down to making these kinds of choices this legislative session.

State lawmakers say they're pretty confident they'll be able to give elementary schools millions of dollars in capital improvement project funds to replace aging playground gear.

Their optimism was evident yesterday when state Sen. Rod Tam (D, Nuuanu) and Rep. Bob McDermott (R, Aliamanu, Foster Village) held a news conference to focus on legislation to fund playground equipment at schools across the state.

"We want to draw attention to this issue," said McDermott, who added that the estimated playground price tag would be nearly $12 million.

Their proposal and other pork-barrel bills before the Legislature would pay for equipment that was either removed or deemed unsafe, leaving many schoolchildren without swings, merry-go-rounds and other play structures.

"It's a statewide issue, and we hope to do something about it," said House Education Chairman Ken Ito, who is proposing to spend $8 million in government bonds over the next three years for school playgrounds.

But Gov. Ben Cayetano says he wants to use $210 million of the same kind of funds to catch up on long-deferred repair and maintenance projects at schools, the university and other public buildings over the next three years.

"That's the basic dilemma we face," state Budget Director Neal Miyahira said. "What we've got to do is balance the competing demands."

Of the $210 million, Cayetano is looking to spend $45 million for each of the next three years to attack an estimated $240 million backlog in school repair and maintenance projects across the state.

Jim Richardson, who heads the state division overseeing the upkeep of public school buildings, said the construction money, coupled with $22.5 million in annual operating money, will go a long way toward that goal as well as addressing health and safety concerns.

Reroofing school buildings, upgrading electrical systems, replacing outdated fire alarms, changing deteriorating water and sewer lines and renovating classrooms and restrooms are just some the work that could be paid for by the construction funds -- designed for projects with a life of 15 to 20 years.

"It's a good shot in the arm for the program to make a dent in these critical areas," Richardson said.

Miyahira said the governor allowed allotments for other construction projects to expire to come up with funds to take care of deferred maintenance, which piled up during years of budget-cutting. "Repairs are the first thing you put off."

Ito said lawmakers looked at the lapsed funds as a sign that money would be available for playgrounds. But Miyahira said fixing the playground equipment may mean putting off some of the repair and maintenance.

"What they are going to have to do is look at their priorities.

"We don't have an unlimited pot of money," Miyahira said.

"In order for somebody to gain, somebody is going to have to lose."

John Friedman, president of the Hawaii State Parent, Teacher Student Association, who joined McDermott and Tam yesterday, said he doesn't want money diverted from other educational efforts, such as the implementation of standards-based reform. But he said the PTSA also sees playground equipment as a vital part of a child's learning experience in school.

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