Dear Hawai‘i Board of Education...

 From: Vanessa Ott <msvott@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 14, 2023 at 5:32 AM
Subject: What is DOE Plan for Abiding by Act 261 - Prohibition on Nepotism?
To: Bill Arakaki <bill.arakaki@boe.hawaii.gov>, BOE <BOE.Hawaii@boe.hawaii.gov>, Kahele Dukelow <kahele.dukelow@boe.hawaii.gov>, Kaimana Barcarse <kaimana.barcarse@boe.hawaii.gov>, Ken Kuraya <ken.kuraya@boe.hawaii.gov>, Lauren Moriarty <lauren.moriarty@boe.hawaii.gov>, Makana McClellan <makana.mcclellan@boe.hawaii.gov>, Shanty Asher <shanty.asher@boe.hawaii.gov>, Warren Haruki <warren.haruki@boe.hawaii.gov>, Keith Hayashi <Keith.Hayashi@k12.hi.us>

Aloha Board of Education Members and Superintendent Hayashi,

Nepotism is no longer legal in the State of Hawaii.  This is going to have a wonderful effect on improving the Department of Education. You can read HRS § 84-NEW, and the Governor's Message of its passage into law on July 11, 2023 on my website here:  FreeSpeech4US.com/nepotism-in-hawaii

Therefore, the DOE has the responsibility to get going with identifying any current violations of the new law, and moving people to new positions next school year to eliminate violations of our new, long-awaited anti-nepotism statute. 

As a retired IT professional, I believe this project can be managed easily if the right computer systems are in place.  Below is a suggestion for a "Simple Process to Acquire Relative & Household Member Data."

Please add "Act 261 Compliance" to upcoming agendas for the General Board, and the F&I and HR committees.  I would like to see a report of the number of subordinate employees affected by the new law.  I don't want to know their names or personal relationships, but I'd love a report that identifies the manager's name(s), with position with branch, district or school who currently manages relatives or household members, with the number of subordinate employees affected at that location and by which manager.  

In a case where maybe it's only 1 employee, that employee will be have to moved to another location because the burden of moving a manager is a greater hardship for the location.  In the case where it's 2 or more employees, I think the manager should be moved to another position/location because making two people move is a greater hardship than moving 1, and woe to the managers who've had a habit of hiring their relatives. 

If there's not a lot of nepotism in the DOE, it shouldn't be a huge problem to move employees around.  That's the benefit of being a state-run school. 

I think initial data to see how many employees are affected, and where they are needs to be gathered as soon as possible so that the Board and the Department know the scope of the problem.

Mahalo,

Vanessa Ott

SIMPLE PROCESS TO ACQUIRE RELATIVE & HOUSEHOLD MEMBER DATA

A. IT Department creates database and web-based GUI to manage data and create reports on this project.

B. Send link to online form for all managers with password to log into individual account.

C. Upon login, the form will be populated with the manager's name, position, location, and all the employees identified as under direct management of that individual manager.

D. Form must be digitally signed by all managers by a specific deadline.

Form is simple and states:

I declare, under penalty of law, that none of the employees listed below is my "relative"* or "household member,"* except (put a check mark next to each employee's name):
     Employee 1
     Employee 2, etc.

* A "relative or household member," as defined by HRS § 84-NEW, is:

• an individual who resides in the same dwelling unit;
• a parent, 
• grandparent, 
• stepparent, 
• child, 
• grandchild, 
• stepchild, 
• foster child, 
• adopted child, 
• sibling, 
• half-sibling, 
• stepsibling, 
• parent's sibling, 
• first cousin, 
• sibling's child, 
• spouse, 
• spouse's parent, 
• child-in-law, 
• sibling-in-law, or 
• any individual who has become a member of the employee's immediate family through the Hawaiian hanai custom. 

Name: _digital signature______________   Date:    (automatically entered by computer when form submitted)   

 From: Vanessa Ott <msvott@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 11:17 AM
Subject: Request BOE policy-making, support, and oversight to clean up DOE Civil Rights Compliance Branch
To: Warren Haruki <warren.haruki@boe.hawaii.gov>
Cc: Bill Arakaki <bill.arakaki@boe.hawaii.gov>, Kahele Dukelow <kahele.dukelow@boe.hawaii.gov>, Kaimana Barcarse <kaimana.barcarse@boe.hawaii.gov>, Ken Kuraya <ken.kuraya@boe.hawaii.gov>, Lauren Moriarty <lauren.moriarty@boe.hawaii.gov>, Makana McClellan <makana.mcclellan@boe.hawaii.gov>, Shanty Asher <shanty.asher@boe.hawaii.gov>

Aloha Chair Haruki,

All three BOE standing committees have the same purpose and responsibilities within their specialty topic:  "policy-making, support, and oversight."  My two recent letters to Board Members (01-Aug and 08-Aug) expose some serious deficiencies that exemplify why it's so hard to retain teachers, and why so many families pay for private school. The DOE ignores the law and does not treat people with respect. I ask that the BOE put on its next meeting agenda: "Inquiry in Civil Rights Compliance Branch Operations."

I know that you are all focused on this year's strategic plan.  Identifying what needs to be in next school year's strategic plan also needs to happen simultaneously.  Therefore, I strongly urge that each BOE committee, and the State Superintendent, give some attention to these two huge problem areas that can be addressed with updated policies, procedures, and systems of accountability.

(1)  DOE Officials unresponsive to external communications.

(2)  The Civil Rights Compliance Branch does not following the law.

My hope is that the Board will create an ad hoc committee to investigate what's been going on at the CRCB for the last 15 years.  I have hundreds of pages of documentation of ADA violations and lack of CRCB support for handicapped employees.  The retaliation by DOE administrators against those who assert their civil rights is outrageous. All DOE employees I know are afraid to speak the truth about practically everything because retaliation is so commonplace in the DOE.  But, the Board will never know what's really going on unless you open up these issues for public testimony by putting them on meeting agendas.

BOE Policies haven't been improved in well over a decade and are in desperate need of revision to keep up with the times.  I give very good business solutions for fixing problem #1 in pp. 5-6 of my August 17, 2022 Testimony to the Board which I've posted on my website here:  FreeSpeech4US.com/hawaii-school-conflicts -- August 17, 2022 Testimony  It is common practice for DOE employees to refuse to answer communications from the public.  The recent spate of unanswered letters to Superintendent Hayashi and Beth Schimmelfennig are a perfect example.  I've posted them here:  freespeech4us.com/screwing-the-handicapped

As for fixing problem #2, my ultimate goal is to (1) reform the CRCB (in many ways), and (2) require that all DOE Employees receive adequate training in ADA and Civil Rights in the workplace every year (much like the blood-born pathogen video all employees are required to watch every year). The EEOC has training programs, and their newest looks like exactly what the DOE needs. 

Please, Chair Haruki, put Civil Rights on the agenda, roll up our sleeves, hear from the public, the teachers, etc., and solve the problem.

Mahalo,

Vanessa Ott 

 From: Vanessa Ott <msvott@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 8, 2023 at 9:40 AM
Subject: Re: DOE Civil Rights Violations Need Immediate and Long-Term Attention
To: Warren Haruki <warren.haruki@boe.hawaii.gov>, Makana McClellan <makana.mcclellan@boe.hawaii.gov>, Bill Arakaki <bill.arakaki@boe.hawaii.gov>, Shanty Asher <shanty.asher@boe.hawaii.gov>, Kaimana Barcarse <kaimana.barcarse@boe.hawaii.gov>, Ken Kuraya <ken.kuraya@boe.hawaii.gov>, Kahele Dukelow <kahele.dukelow@boe.hawaii.gov>, Lauren Moriarty <lauren.moriarty@boe.hawaii.gov>
Cc: Sue Aina <sueaina100@gmail.com>, Keith Hayashi <Keith.Hayashi@k12.hi.us>, <beth.schimmelfennig@k12.hi.us>

Aloha Board of Education Members,

I'm following up on the progress of Superintendent Hayashi's oversight of Principal Roddy's egregious revocation of hard-won disability accommodations already granted to disabled teacher Sue Aina, and the Civil Rights Compliance Branch's continued complicity in ADA violations at Naalehu Elementary School.

Below is a summary of all the phone calls and letters I've written. None of the DOE 6-figure-salaried recipients has responded to me.  I believe one of the Deputy Superintendents took action yesterday (Monday, Aug-7) after my 8:25 AM email, because Principal Roddy got the custodial staff to clean the filthy classroom.  HOWEVER, Cleaning the classroom would not have been an issue for Ms. Aina if Beth Schimmelfennig, the Executive Director of the DOE CRCB, would have honored the previously granted accommodation for Ms. Aina to be in a classroom that meets the minimum ADA accessibility requirements.  I asked her two weeks ago to do this, but Ms. Schimmelfennig refuses to enforce the ADA accommodation agreement by informing Ms. Roddy that she must follow the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Ms. Aina was granted the accommodation of assignment to Room 11 in 2016.  This year, Principal Roddy, in what I believe to be an attempt at constructive discharge, reassigned Ms. Aina to Grade 2 in a tiny classroom.  There is no other good business reason to assign a teacher who is soon to retire to Grade 2 when she's been successfully teaching Grade 5 for over a decade.
Most alarming in this crisis is Superintendent Hayashi's lack of leadership in resolving the emergency.  This is something the BOE should be aware of when it comes to the Superintendent's end of the year evaluation.  How long will it take Superintendent Hayashi to follow previous DOE agreements and make Beth Schimmelfennig and Wilma Roddy do their jobs?  He's ultimately responsible.  The CRCB Director reports to the Superintendent.

[see picture of table to the right and p. 1 of attachment]

Details of the communications listed above are attached.  Much of it is also archived on my web site here:  https://freespeech4us.com/screwing-the-handicapped 

Mahalo,

Vanessa Ott

808 - 854 -1018
cc: Sue Aina, Teacher

       Keith Hayashi, DOE State Superintendent

       Beth Schimmelfennig, DOE CRCB Executive Director 

Aloha to all Board of Education Members,

As the DOE develops a new Strategic Plan, I strongly suggest the Board influence the Superintendent to try something new.  Focus on Parent and Community Engagement.  It is touted throughout U.S. education systems that parent and community engagement is essential for successful student outcomes.  Even schools in underprivileged communities can thrive if the school leadership is capable of accomplishing authentic parent and community engagement. Unfortunately, the DOE is not even close to accomplishing this because their current practices are the antithesis of engagement.  The DOE culture eschews conflict, silences or ignores complaints, and even tolerates lying if it can get rid of anyone who voices dissent. 

When a society is having a collective problem, laws are enacted, enforcement is essential, everything runs smoother, and nobody gets hurt.  Imagine what it was like to train people how to follow traffic lights when converting from horses to cars.  The BOE needs to make better policies that do the same on the road to diversity, inclusion, stakeholder engagement, and the inevitable conflicting ideas that come with this.  That road, right now has people crashing into the DOE wall left and right.  For example, take a look at this Hawai‘i News Now story that was aired Feb. 3, 2022:

www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/02/04/middle-school-principal-who-got-death-threats-says-doe-isnt-taking-her-safety-seriously

I was listening to the news when I heard the Principal’s name mentioned and it got my immediate attention.  I, too, had been extremely frustrated by Ms. Balatico’s actions for years as I attempted to help a Polynesian family get a decent education for their learning disabled child.  That’s putting it mildly.  She was impossible to work with, uncooperative, vindictive, and dishonest.  Sadly, that’s what I’ve come to expect from HIDOE Principals, and happily, once in great while, I meet one who’s not like this. Ever since 2007, when I became a licensed Grade 3 teacher in a high need area of Hawai‘i at the tender age of 48, after a long career as a writer, trainer, and technology professional in the SF Bay area, I have run into HIDOE employees who are incapable of managing conflict in a professional manner, any kind of conflict no matter how benign. The Complex Area Superintendents I’ve dealt with over the years, have all handled complaints about unfairly resolved conflict with Principals the same way (except for one, Chad Farias).  They say, “Work it out with the Principal.”  That’s absurd, because one would not be going to the CAS if one had been able to work it out with the Principal.

I’ve often wondered what the DOE was teaching its employees about conflict management. So, this month, I submitted a UIPA Request to Access a Government Record to find out. Apparently, the State of Hawai‘i Department of Education doesn't teach its employees any professional conflict resolution skills, much less monitor and measure outcomes to identify and correct common or recurring problems. Here is a picture of my request for training materials and procedures, and the DOE’s response, "No records found":

This is an enormous gaping hole in HIDOE employee training!

Why do you think so many parents put their children in private school in this state?  Why is it hard to retain teachers?  It's not just the pay.  It's the HIDOE culture which assassinates independent thought and insists upon, even glorifies, silent subservience in the presence of supercilious stupidity and sanctimonious smallmindedness.

It is up to the Board of Education to make sure a new Strategic Plan includes a plan for training employees how to manage conflict professionally, monitoring complaints about conflict, and improving procedures and employee performance concerning conflict management.  Conflict management skills are needed to quickly, fairly, and intelligently handle conflict between employees; between supervisors and subordinates; between students; between a teacher and a student; between a parent and a teacher; between a principal and a parent; between a community member and a principal, etc.

Mahalo,

Vanessa Ott