Background
This waiver request is in response to the devastation and disruption caused by the August 8, 2023, Maui Island wildfires, and its island-wide impact on the island’s students and schools. The scope and magnitude of the Maui Island wildfires are unprecedented. Given the extraordinary impact on the Maui community, the Hawaii Department of Education (Department) is requesting a one-year waiver from accountability determinations and reporting for the 2023-2024 school year. The waiver is for all Maui Island students and schools, except for Hana High and Elementary School, to minimize any additional stressors and trauma caused by this federally-declared disaster. The Department is not requesting a waiver from required statewide testing.
In addition to this waiver request, the Department is committed to ensuring that any school already identified for comprehensive or targeted support and improvement, or additional targeted support for the 2023-2024 school year will maintain that status through the 2023-2024 school year and continue to receive supports and interventions consistent with the school’s support and improvement plan for the 2023- 2024 school year.
Request for Public Comment on the Proposed Changes
The following table details the waiver request currently being considered for all Maui Island students and schools except for Hana High and Elementary School. In summary, the first checked box describes the requirement to meaningfully differentiate all public schools and report the schools identified under ESSA using data from the 2023-2024 school year. The second checked box describes ESSA Report Card reporting requirements related to each of the items under Section 1111(h)(1)(C).
✔ Accountability and school identification requirements in sections 1111(c)(4) and 1111(d)(2)(C)-(D): the requirements that a State annually meaningfully differentiate all public schools and the requirements to identify schools for comprehensive and targeted support and improvement and additional targeted support and improvement based on data from the 2023-2024 school year.
✔ Report card provisions related to certain assessments and accountability in section 1111(h) based on data from the 2023-2024 school year, namely:
- Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(i) (accountability system description).
- Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii) (assessment results).
- Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(iii)(I) (other academic indicator results).
- Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(iv) (English language proficiency assessment results).
- Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(v) (school quality or student success indicator results).
- Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(vi) (progress toward meeting long-terms goals and measurements of interim progress).
- Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(vii) (percentage of students assessed and not assessed).
- Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(xi) (number and percentage of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities taking an alternate assessment).
- Section 1111(h)(2)(C) with respect to all waived requirements in section 1111(h)(1)(C) as well as 1111(h)(2)(C)(i)-(ii) (information showing how students in a local educational agency (LEA) and each school, respectively, achieved on the academic assessments compared to students in the State and LEA).
A waiver from these accountability determinations and reporting requirements for all Maui Island students and schools (except Hana High and Elementary School) applies only to 2023-2024 school year data. This one-year waiver would ensure those results are not publicly reported or used to identify any Maui Island school (except for Hana High and Elementary School).