#Keith Hayashi

The latest cohort of the J-1 Visa Teacher Program represents the largest group for the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education. At the start of the new school year, 237 teachers will join the approximately 365 current J-1 visa teachers in classrooms across the state, teaching a variety of subjects in elementary and secondary schools. 

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education marked the opening of its Lahaina educator workforce housing development, a $20 million project designed to support teacher retention and strengthen public education on Maui.

The Hāna-Lahainaluna-Lānaʻi-Molokai complex has offered a public pre-K classroom at every elementary school since the 2024-25 school year.

Sen. Michelle N. Kidani released a statement on Wednesday regarding a media inquiry on her ability to serve.

The Department, which serves over 103,000 meals per day to students statewide, plans to operate up to two regional kitchens on Oʻahu, two on Hawaiʻi Island and one each on Kauaʻi, Maui and Molokaʻi. Standalone production kitchens will continue at Hāna High & Elementary, Kaʻū High & Pāhala Elementary, Lānaʻi High & Elementary and Nāʻālehu Elementary schools.

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education announced that a new, statewide priority placement process for Kaiapuni Education (Hawaiian language immersion programs) will open on Feb. 2, 2026, marking an important step toward greater consistency, clarity and equity for families seeking Kaiapuni options for their children. The application window will close March 13, 2026.

The United States Senate Youth Program announced that high school students Anna Nguyen of Maui Preparatory Academy and Lotus Yasuda will join US Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie K. Hirono in representing Hawaiʻi during the 64th annual USSYP Washington Week, to be held March 7-14, 2026. 

Hawaiʻi State Department of Education Superintendent Keith Hayashi issued a permanent trespass notice banning two individuals from all public school properties following the recent violent attack on Moanalua High School Assistant Athletic Director Natalie Iwamoto.

Students at Kamaliʻi Elementary School spent the past week learning the foundations of computer programming, often without touching a keyboard or a screen. As part of the global Computer Science Education Week, the Kīhei school implemented a series of activities for students from kindergarten through 5th grade. The curriculum introduced concepts of coding and artificial […]

The Hawaiʻi Board of Education has reappointed Keith T. Hayashi to a new four-year term as superintendent of the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, extending his leadership through December 2029. The decision was approved during a special board meeting Nov. 5.

In 2016, then Gov. David Ige told state lawmakers that he was committed to cooling 1,000 classrooms by the end of the year. Lawmakers agreed to do so with $100 million. But it didn’t work, according to a blunt and unsparing report by the Office of the State Auditor.

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education has named 15 complex area teachers of the year and one charter school teacher of the year as part of the 2026 Hawaiʻi State Teacher of the Year recognition. The Maui County teachers are: Kindergarten teacher Susan Chew of Lānaʻi High and Elementary School and 5th grade teacher Kristel Pigao of Waiheʻe Elementary.

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education has appointed two senior leaders to strengthen operations and student services across the public school system.

With a statewide regional kitchen master plan now in motion, the Hawai‘i Department of Education is turning its attention to transforming school menus to feature more locally grown and produced foods.

The Hawaiʻi State Board of Education has unanimously approved appointments of Leila Maeda-Kobayashi as complex area superintendent overseeing schools in the Kapaʻa-Kauaʻi-Waimea Complex Area and Kasie Kaleohano as complex area superintendent overseeing schools in the Hilo-Waiākea Complex Area. Maeda-Kobayashi has served since March as the deputy complex area superintendent of the Kapaʻa-Kauaʻi-Waimea Complex Area. Her experience within the […]

The state Department of Education held a blessing and groundbreaking ceremony Thursday morning for a $20 million rental housing development for educators and school staff in Lahaina. The project addresses a critical workforce housing shortage and supports efforts to stabilize and retain staff at West Maui schools following the August 2023 wildfires.

The Hawai‘i State Department of Education is rolling out its 2025–26 student transportation plans early to help families plan ahead amid ongoing driver shortages that have affected school bus routes statewide.

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education announced that it has initiated a discussion on its approach to review public school campuses for potential consolidation in light of a steady decrease in overall enrollment over the past decade.

The House Committee on Human Services & Homelessness advanced a bill Thursday to prohibit homeless encampments near schools.

Six Hawai‘i public school educators received the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the nation’s highest award that a science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teacher may receive for outstanding teaching in the United States, President Joe Biden announced this week.