Board of Education candidate information: It’s not too late to find out about them
A great source for background on the Board of Education candidates is a blog post by Henry Curtis at Disappeared News. He provides an excellent account of the Save Our Schools candidate forum in August.
Olelo has the footage of the Save Our Schools forum here.
The Board of Education candidates for the 2010 General Election are as follows:
II School Board 2nd Department/Maui
R. Ray Hart
Leona Rocha-Wilson
I School Board 5th Department/Leeward
James Arola
Maralyn Kurshals
David O’neal
I School Board 6th Department/Windward
Valzey Freitas
John R. Penebacker
I School Board No Department School District Residency
Melanie Bailey
Kim Coco Iwamoto
Roger Kiyoshi Takabayashi
Brian Y. Yamane
Randall M.L. Yee
Pamela Young
Purpose (State Constitution, Article X, Section 3)
The Board of Education shall have the power, as provided by law, to formulate statewide educational policy and appoint the superintendent of education as the chief executive officer of the public school system.
General Information (State Constitution, Article X, Section 2; and HRS §13-1, §13-1.1)
The State of Hawaii Board of Education consists of one (1) non-voting high school student member appointed by the Hawaii State Student Council and thirteen (13) members elected by the registered voters of two (2) at-large school board districts.
The school board districts are:
School Board District I
Island of Oahu (consisting of Representative Districts 1 through 16)
School Board District II
Islands of Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe, Kauai, and Niihau (consisting of Representative Districts 17 through 51)
Ten (10) members are elected at-large from the First School Board District:
- one (1) resident 3rd Departmental School District (Honolulu)
Representative Districts 17 to 29 and part of 30 and 32
- one (1) resident 4th Departmental School District (Central Oahu)
Representative Districts 31, 33, 38, 39 and
part of Districts 30, 32, 34, 36, 40, 41, 46 and 47
- one (1) resident 5th Departmental School District (Leeward Oahu)
Representative Districts 35, 42, 43, 44, 45 and
Part of Districts 34, 36, 37, 40, 41 and 46
- one (1) resident 6th Departmental School District (Windward Oahu)
Representative Districts 48 to 51 and part of 46 and 47
- six (6) at-large No Departmental School District Residency (Island of Oahu)
Three (3) members are elected at-large from the Second School Board District:
- one (1) resident 1st Departmental School District (County of Hawaii)
Representative Districts 1 to 7
- one (1) resident 2nd Departmental School District (County of Maui)
Representative Districts 8 to 13
- one (1) resident 7th Departmental School District (County of Kauai)
Representative Districts 14 to 16
Qualifications of members (HRS §13-2)
- Currently registered voter of School Board District
- Residency in Departmental School District for seats requiring residency
- Meet provisions (resign to run) of Article II, Section 7 of the Hawaii State Constitution
- Does not hold any other public office in state or county government
The term of office of members of the Board of Education is four (4) years, beginning on the day of the General Election of the year in which they are elected and ending on the day of the second General Election after their election. Members may be re-elected without restriction as to the number of terms.
Current Board of Education Members—Seat—Next Election
School Board District I
Carol Mon Lee—3rd Dept. Dist. (Honolulu)—2012
Eileen Ishihara Clarke—4th Dept. Dist. (Central Oahu)—2010
Breene Harimoto—5th Dept. Dist. (Leeward Oahu)—2012
John R. Penebacker—6th Dept. Dist. (Windward Oahu)—2010
Lei Ahu Isa—No Dept. Residency Required—2012
Janis Akuna—No Dept. Residency Required—2012
Garrett M. Toguchi—No Dept. Residency Required—2012
Donna R. Ikeda—No Dept. Residency Required—2010
Kim Coco Iwamoto—No Dept. Residency Required—2010
Karen Knudsen—No Dept. Residency Required—2010
School Board District II
Herbert S. Watanabe—1st Dept. Dist. (County of Hawaii)—2012
Mary J. Cochran—2nd Dept. Dist. (County of Maui)—2010
Maggie Cox—7th Dept. Dist. (County of Kauai)—2012