HILO — Hawaii County schools are set to get $26.2 million to modernize and repair their facilities, part of a $116 million bond issue directed to help rural schools meet federal Race to the Top standards. HILO — Hawaii County
HILO — Hawaii County schools are set to get $26.2 million to modernize and repair their facilities, part of a $116 million bond issue directed to help rural schools meet federal Race to the Top standards.
Rep. Clift Tsuji, D-South Hilo, Panaewa, Puna, Keaau, Kurtistown, noted Hawaii County is getting about 23 percent of the money being allocated to rural schools statewide. He said the facility improvements are an important component, alongside student performance and teacher evaluations, in bringing Hawaii schools into compliance with the federal standards.
“It adds to the learning environment,” Tsuji said Thursday. “Students move on. They go from class to class and they graduate. The buildings remain with termites and leaky faucets and needing maintenance.”
The money is in addition to funds for two Big Island schools announced Thursday by Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Abercrombie announced he’d released $3 million in previously budgeted capital improvement funds for a gymnasium/emergency shelter at Hilo High School and $112,000 to relocate or construct temporary facilities for Holualoa Elementary, part of $26.8 million released statewide.
“By prioritizing these school projects, we are making an investment in the education of our keiki while creating local jobs,” Abercrombie said in a statement.
Two Big Island schools are also set to receive money from a separate $10 million earmarked for electrical upgrades next year. Waiakeawaena Elementary will receive $1.5 million; Pahoa Elementary will receive $1.2 million, according to information provided by Tsuji.
The state is pumping money into education in an effort to meet the federal standards and rid itself of a “high-risk” status the U.S. Department of Education imposed on it last year. The state was required to pay for its own projects and then get reimbursed, rather than getting money from the federal government upfront to improve its schools. Starting in June, however, the state should lose the cost-reimbursement status, according to the state DOE.
Most of the projects are included in the 2012-13 state budget that goes into effect July 1. Those projects will likely be bid out and ready to start construction in early 2013, said Duane Kashiwai, Facilities Maintenance Branch administrator for the state Department of Education.
Other projects have already begun. Schools in the Ka‘u/Keaau/Pahoa complex areas are designated as Zones of School Innovation under the Race to the Top plan and already are receiving fresh coats of paint, new white boards, ceiling fans and bookshelves, renovated science labs, roofing, plumbing and other improvements.
In addition to a variety of renovation and maintenance projects at each school, most schools will also get what’s called “converged network infrastructure.” This integrates network, program bell, public address and fire alarms into a single conduit system, instead of installing and maintaining each item separately — an approach expected to lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings.
Costs for converged network infrastructure range from $115,000 to $345,000 per school.
“Everybody can jump onto the same highway, and we don’t have wires scattered all over campus,” Kashiwai said in an October DOE newsletter. “It’s cheaper, faster and more efficient.”
