22 schools to test
education reform

The system of school community
councils and a new funding formula
will go statewide in 2005

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By Susan Essoyan
sessoyan@starbulletin.com

Twenty-two public schools were selected yesterday to create school community councils and try out a new funding formula in the first steps toward education reform as approved by the Legislature.

Pilot Schools Public schools that will pilot School Community Councils and a new budgeting formula in the next school year: Oahu: Aiea High Campbell High Enchanted Lake Elementary Hale Kula Elementary Hokulani Elementary Honowai Elementary Kahuku High & Intermediate Kalihi Uka Elementary Kapunahala Elementary Kawananakoa Middle Mililani Middle Salt Lake Elementary Waipahu High Washington Middle Hawaii: Hilo Intermediate Kaumana Elementary Keaau Middle Kealakehe Elementary Maui: Kula Elementary Lanai High & Elementary Kauai: Kalaheo Elementary Kamakahelei Middle

The schools, ranging from little Kaumana Elementary on the outskirts of Hilo to massive Waipahu High School, were chosen from 37 that volunteered for the pilot program.

The pilot is designed to allow a variety of schools to experiment with the new system during the next school year, before it is mandated statewide in 2005-2006.

"I'm anxious to see the process work, and I think it's something that will truly benefit all of our schools and the community we serve," Waipahu High Principal Pat Pedersen said yesterday. "What I see as really significant is to get the input from parents and the community. ... It's proven to be successful in other school districts."

The new councils will include representatives of parents, teachers, staff, students and the community. Under the law, they will review and evaluate the schools' academic and financial plans and be able to recommend revisions. They can also participate in principal selection and evaluation. This gives them more power than the school/community-based management councils now operating at many campuses. Those councils will be phased out.

The pilot schools will also be trying out the weighted student formula, which directs money to schools based on the educational hurdles faced by their students, such as limited English or learning disabilities. It gives principals more control of spending at their schools, rather than having to follow top-down mandates.

"I would like to see how flexible we can be with the weighted student formula and see whether the changes we can make would actually make a difference in student achievement," said Sandra Ishihara-Shibata, principal of Kawananakoa Middle School in Nuuanu, one of the pilot campuses.

The schools were chosen because they vary in size, location, grade levels, student characteristics and academic performance.

"The pilot schools are representative of all schools and will produce meaningful models," said schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto.

"If problems arise in implementing any of the initiatives, we want to work out solutions during the pilot stage in order to smooth the transition for all schools the following year."

The school councils and funding formula are key elements of the Reinventing Education Act just passed by the Legislature over Gov. Linda Lingle's veto. She had pushed for local school boards rather than school councils on each campus.

Kaumana Elementary School Principal Lloyd Matsunami said he volunteered his 220-student school as a guinea pig because he has a limited staff and does not know what the impact of the changes will be on a day-to-day basis.

"I wanted to give us an opportunity to get some help and work some of the bugs out," he said. "A lot of times in piloting, you'll get the kinds of assistance you may not get when it goes to all the schools."

A committee will be meeting to determine what student characteristics will be included in the formula, and what weights each should receive when it becomes law. In the meantime the pilot schools are expected to use preliminary weights developed by the committee this fall as projections, said Robert McClelland, acting director of the planning and evaluation office for the Department of Education.

The law calls for the pilot to begin in at least 15 schools by January. It allocated $400,000 for the program, including training for council members and school staff.

House Education Chairman Roy Takumi (D, Pearl City-Pacific Palisades) welcomed the fact that the pilot is getting under way already and so many schools wanted to take part.

"This is an indication that people are excited that change can happen at the school level and they're going to embrace this," he said. "I think the community is going to be surprised and pleased at the change this will bring into the school system."