HIDOE deputy says situation is ‘unacceptable’ when questioned by BOE
Posted: December 7, 2023
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education Deputy Superintendent of Operations Curt Otaguro said Thursday it’s “unacceptable” that 10% of the state’s public schools failed fire inspections last school year and 24 schools need repairs to their fire alarms systems.
The lack of working fire alarms at these schools was first discussed by the Board of Education at its November meeting. Board Chair Warren Haruki raised concerns Thursday that over the past month, “nothing much has happened, and now you are acknowledging a lack of a plan or there is no plan.”
“I’m kind of disappointed that a month has passed and we really haven’t made much progress,” Haruki said during the Board of Education’s Finance and Infrastructure Committee Thursday.
Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association President Osa Tui, Jr. called the school fire safety situation “despicable.”
He told BOE members, “16,000 students and numerous faculty and staff are vulnerable due to failing fire inspections.
“As the Maui wildfires have shown us, fires can overtake a community, including its schools, in the blink of an eye. There is no excuse that these fire systems aren’t given the highest priority to be fixed and functional. Lives are literally on the line,” Tui testified.
In a memo to the BOE this week, the department reported 15 school fire alarm projects, described as “critical,” are scheduled to go out to bid next year at an anticipated cost of $36.1 million. Another nine projects would cost $4.8 million, with one of those fire alarm systems reported in poor condition and the eight others in fair condition.
The department did not detail which schools needed fire alarm repairs or replacement and how much each project would cost. Board members asked for a breakdown of that information.
“While we have schools in various stages, insufficient funding prevents concurrent execution of all projects,” the HIDOE said in the memo.
The department is seeking $10 million a year from the Legislature for the next five years for statewide fire alarm repairs.
“We are trying our best to fix them all. That’s the bottom line,” Otaguro told board members.
The average life of a fire alarm system is 15 years, Otaguro said. Many HIDOE fire alarms systems are well beyond their 15-year life, he added.
Schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi told the BOE, “We do recognize that we do have some challenges and moving forward definitely (we will provide) a more proactive approach.”
“We will present a stronger plan that will have more proactive maintenance,” Otaguro added.
Hayashi said he and his top officials will return to the BOE and update board members about fire alarms projects in a few months.
“We have to be creative if we’re going to move this needle,” said BOE chair Haruki. “This whole situation just needs a thorough review.”