School fixes get
24-hour hot line

The Department of Education
warns that progress will
depend on funding

The Department of Education will establish a 24-hour Oahu call center to address school repair needs when it assumes direct control over its repair and maintenance work on July 1.

However, the department cautioned that its hopes of making significant progress on its $450 million school-repair backlog will be dictated as always by whether sufficient funding is budgeted and released.

"This is highly dependent on funding, which no one can predict at this time," said Assistant School Superintendent Rae Loui.

Representatives of the departments of Education and Accounting and General Services briefed contractors and consultants yesterday on the expected impact of the shift in responsibilities.

Under the Act 51 education-reform law, the Department of Education must take control of repair and maintenance work by July 1.

The bidding and contracting of such projects has traditionally been handled by DAGS. The change is intended to hasten completion of projects in Hawaii's run-down public schools by eliminating bureaucracy.

For example, the Department of Education will be able to initiate projects and request funds from the Governor's Office on its own, rather than through DAGS.

It also eliminates the need to coordinate schedules between the two big agencies.

"This will translate to faster and better delivery of projects," Loui said.

She said the call center will be a "one-stop shop" for schools to call regarding emergencies, work orders or the status of projects. Each of the state's school subdistricts will be served by a three-person district support team.

"We are committed to making changes that will maximize the time schools can spend on education and improving student achievement by minimizing the time they spend on matters like the repair and maintenance of facilities," Loui said.

As part of the transition, 207 DAGS employees will become Department of Education personnel.

The impact of the change will be less pronounced on the neighbor islands, where DAGS will continue to execute school projects.

Contractors said yesterday that they were confident the switch will be an improvement.

"The paperwork is killing us. Hopefully, this will be a positive change," said Audrey Hidano, of Hidano Construction Inc.

However, funding remains an issue.

Loui said the $75 million repair and maintenance budget allotted to the department by the Legislature this year is $25 million short of what is needed.

As a result, the department will have to scale back its plans for classroom renovations, electrical upgrade projects, and major repair and maintenance projects, she said.