In the May 2024 report to the Board of Education (BOE), Superintendent Keith Hayashi shared updates on the Department’s supplemental operating and capital improvement program budget requests for fiscal year 2025, legislative proposals, and highlights of recent awards and recognitions for students, employees and schools.

Superintendent Hayashi reported that much of the Department's requests were incorporated into the Executive Budget Bill (HB 1800 CD1). He said the Department’s CIP lump sum request for compliance was not funded and expressed concern that the absence of funding for this category will delay the satisfaction of various legal requirements associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title IX Gender Equity.

Superintendent Hayashi concluded his report highlighting awards and recognitions including principals who have recently been celebrated as 2024 Principal of the Year by the Hawaiʻi Association of Secondary School Administrators; 2024 National Distinguished Principal and National Outstanding Assistant Principal for the state by the Hawaiʻi Elementary & Middle School Administrators Association; and the 2024 Masayuki Tokioka Excellence in School Leadership Award.

Highlighting student recognitions, Superintendent Hayashi congratulated Maile-Lei Ji from Kealakehe High School and BOE student representative Ahryanna McGuirk of Kalāheo High School were recognized as HIDOE’s first pair of U.S. Presidential Scholars in the same year.

The 20th annual Citizen-Scholar Awards were presented to 42 outstanding seniors – one from each public high school – including McGuirk.

The report wrapped up with a mention that the Class of 2024 graduations are currently underway and that approximately 11,000 public high school seniors received or will be receiving their diplomas this year.