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The Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) announced Friday that public schools will remain closed through the end of the school year, with the continuation of enrichment and distance learning through May 28, the last day of the 2019-20 school year. The DOE said the decision was made based on the latest guidance and information from health officials and elected leaders.

HSTA President Corey Rosenlee told reporters at a virtual news conference Friday afternoon, “As long as there was ambiguity about when school would open, it made it very difficult for our teachers to plan. Now we know what’s going to happen with the rest of the school year, we’re going to work the best that we can to continue to provide enrichment activities.”

The HSTA live-streamed the news conference on its Facebook page and YouTube channel.

HSTA Vice President Osa Tui Jr. also spoke to reporters. As registrar at McKinley High School, Tui prepares diplomas and transcripts for graduating seniors, who he said have been through a lot in their public school careers.

“As second graders, they went through furlough Fridays, and now 10 years later, they’re experiencing the most memorable quarter of their educational careers, just not as a senior normally would,” Tui said.

Front-line educators are doing the best they can during distance learning, but Tui added, “Oftentimes guidance from the department has left many questions unanswered and even administrators at schools have been looking to HSTA for answers on how to proceed in these times of uncertainty.

“Our educators, through all of this, are trying to hold it together themselves, but there's added stress coming from talk of furloughs or drastic pay cuts,” Tui said. 

Logan Okita, a first-grade teacher at Nimitz Elementary School, is HSTA's secretary-treasurer.

“When I said goodbye to them on March 13, I didn’t think it was the end of the year,” she told reporters, her voice choked with emotion. “I know that our teachers are trying to create a sense of normalcy when this isn’t normal for any of us.”

In a news release, HIDOE Superintendent Christina Kishimoto said, "I want to acknowledge the resiliency of the HIDOE workforce and thank them for rising to the challenge of looking for innovative ways to move our work forward through this unprecedented time.”

On April 2, the Board of Education unanimously approved the department’s request to modify high school graduation and commencement requirements for the graduating class of 2020. This approval in part helped finalize plans to utilize grades from the third quarter to determine the final grade for student courses. In addition, an announcement was made earlier this week that traditional commencement ceremonies would be replaced with alternative celebrations due to safety concerns and social distancing guidance. Celebrations will occur in the later half of May.

The HIDOE's focus will shift in the coming weeks toward a rollout of summer school, which will largely occur using distance learning, as well as creating a plan for school year 2020–21 given the changing parameters of social distancing and opening of businesses and services.

In addition, the department will initiate a health triage hotline and telehealth service by the end of the month through the Hawaii Keiki program, a partnership between HIDOE and the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene. The service will provide parents access to a phone line answered by a registered nurse who can assess physical and mental health needs, connect public school students to services, and follow up with the family to ensure services were received.

School facilities have been closed to students since March 19, but the school system remains open. All HIDOE employees continue to work remotely with the exception of those who are considered essential and must perform their duties at a campus or office.