JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Chausette Vierling, 8, listened intently to her father Paul's speech yesterday afternoon at the state Capitol after his appointment to the Board of Education by Gov. Linda Lingle.

Business adviser
appointed to BOE

Paul Vierling will fill the vacated
seat for Windward Oahu

Gov. Linda Lingle has appointed business consultant Paul Louis Vierling to the state Board of Education.

Vierling, who owns and operates the consultancy PMS Inc., will fill the Windward Oahu seat recently vacated by Laura Thielen.

Lingle said yesterday that Vierling's experience in advising businesses on improving operations, service and accountability will serve the board well as the state grapples with growing federal demands for accountability in education.

Vierling also is a volunteer with the Hawaii State Parent Teacher Student Association.

"He is up to speed on the issues," Lingle said. "There will be no steep learning curve."

Vierling said he would focus on providing schools the support they need to stay in the good graces of the federal No Child Left Behind school-accountability law.

He also voiced solid support for Act 51, the state law that phases in greater school-level control over funding and decision-making.

"Governance as close to the individual school as possible is fundamental," he said.

Vierling becomes one of only two board members who have children in the state public school system, board Chairman Breene Harimoto being the other.

Thielen, who ruffled feathers on the board by championing the idea of breaking up the state's single school system, resigned last month to become director of the state Office of Planning.

Vierling will serve out the rest of her term, which ends next year.

PMS Inc.'s consultancy clients have included Hawaii Geophysical Services LLC and Easter Seals Hawaii.