STAR-BULLETIN / 2002
Roughly 40 percent of the inventory in the Department of Education's supplies storeroom in Waipahu has been emptied in preparation for its December closure.
The state Department of Education's supplies storeroom, criticized as a "dinosaur" by the state auditor, is on its way to extinction. Schools’ supplies storeroom
clears inventory for closureA law passed this month will shut down
the warehouse at the end of DecemberBy Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.comThe 23,040 square feet of warehouse space in Waipahu has been emptied of roughly 40 percent of its inventory in preparation for its closure in December.
"We are winding down," said Dennis Kajikawa, supervisor for procurement and distribution.
"We haven't ordered any new items, so we're just selling the current stock we have available to schools."
In January, Auditor Marion Higa said the 30-year-old system of buying and distributing supplies to public schools was a waste of taxpayers' money, had outlived its usefulness and should be eliminated. Gov. Ben Cayetano signed a bill into law this month that repeals the law that established the storeroom and transfers storeroom funds to the general fund on Dec. 31. The storeroom received $2 million a year to serve more than 260 schools.
Kajikawa said the schools have already completed their early orders for the next school year, and everything is covered. But he said the storeroom has run out of items like modeling clay, permanent markers, trash bags and yellow powdered paint.
"As long as we have stock available, they can keep coming to us until we don't have stock," he said.
STAR-BULLETIN / 2002
The Department of Education's supplies warehouse, criticized by the state auditor for inefficiency and mismanagement, will be closed in December. In January, Linda Saito put orders together into send out to different schools.
Kajikawa said the department is considering several options for schools to buy directly from suppliers, including distributing vendors' price lists to schools or using a P-card, or purchase card, which works like a credit card.
A new system may be partially in place in January, when vendor lists for janitorial supplies are expected, followed by vendor lists for school supplies in April, Kajikawa said. He said the lists will probably start off with the most essential supplies and build from there as the system grows.
Al Suga, assistant superintendent of business services, said the department agreed with the elimination of the storeroom because retailers such as Costco and Office Depot make supplies available at a discount. But, he said, there is a concern for schools in rural areas and neighbor islands, which were probably the best served by the DOE storeroom.
"I think for the urban centers, they will be free to purchase goods and services with a lot more freedom," Suga said.
"I'm not quite sure what will happen to schools in remote areas like Kau and Naalehu and how it's going to impact them.
"If they need help in acquiring goods or services, they can call our procurement office. ... I'm hoping we can inform these schools in rural areas to take care of that," he said. "If that occurs, I believe we can service our people with quality."
State Department of Education
