New leadership roles announced by Hawaiʻi Department of Education, including on Maui

Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE) Superintendent Keith Hayashi has appointed a new deputy superintendent for operations and a new assistant superintendent for information technology services, both of whom will step into their new roles this month.

Dean Uchida will serve as the deputy superintendent for operations, overseeing key functions in the Department’s state offices, including the Office of Information Technology Services and the Office of Facilities and Operations, which includes the Student Transportation Services, School Food Services, and Safety, Security and Emergency Preparedness Branches.

Uchida most recently served as senior project manager for SSFM International’s Development Group. He’s also held leadership roles with the the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting, state Department of Land and Natural Resources and Land Use Research Foundation of Hawai‘i.

He succeeds former interim deputy superintendent Randy Moore, who retired at the end of 2024. Uchida started on Jan. 6.

Amy Peckinpaugh will serve as the assistant superintendent for the Office of Information Technology Services. Her track record includes senior leadership roles in the banking and IT consulting industries. She most recently served as a senior vice president at Bank of Hawai‘i, reporting to the bank’s vice chair for IT and operations. Amy previously was a director for Gartner, a global technological research and advisory firm. She succeeds Michael Otsuji and will start on Jan. 16.

Hayashi also named Kinau Gardner interim assistant superintendent for the Office of Student Support Services, effective Jan. 1. With over 33 years of experience in education, she began her career as an eighth-grade English teacher and curriculum coordinator at Jarrett Middle School. She transitioned into administration, serving as vice principal at Ala Wai Elementary and Jefferson Elementary before taking on the principal role at Kāhala Elementary, the Hawai‘i School for the Deaf and the Blind and later at Jarrett Middle School. Most recently, Gardner served as an educational specialist for alternative learning programs in the Honolulu District.  She succeeds Annie Kalama, who retired at the end of 2024.

Also stepping into new leadership roles in the Department this year are Ernest Muh and Lori Yatsushiro.

Yatsushiro will oversee schools in the Baldwin-Kekaulike-Kūlanihāko‘i-Maui Complex Area as complex area superintendent. She has served as the deputy complex area superintendent since Sept. 2023. Yatsushiro previously was a school renewal specialist for the BKKM Complex Area, principal at Waiheʻe School, and vice principal at Maui Waena Intermediate, Kīhei Elementary and Waiheʻe School. She was a teacher and curriculum coordinator prior to going into administration. 

Yatsushiro succeeds Desiree Sides, who retired at the end of 2024.

Muh will oversee schools in the Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua Complex Area as complex area superintendent. Muh has led Helemano Elementary as principal since 2008 and guided his students to English language arts, math and science proficiency rates consistently over state averages since the pandemic. Under his leadership, Helemano was one of the first schools in the state to implement a Response to Intervention System to assist struggling students in literacy. Before joining Helemano, Muh served as vice principal for Waimalu Elementary and taught at Mililani ‘Ike, Mililani Mauka and Kahuku Elementary schools. 

Muh succeeds Bob Davis, who retired at the end of 2024.