Hawaii's Public Schools Are a Mess

In the PDF that follows, is the written correspondence concerning the latest conflict with the DOE.  Why do I have so many conflicts with DOE managers?  I'm outspoken, and I fight injustice where I see it.  I'm intelligent. I seek solutions to problems, and the first step is always to identify problems.  To many DOE administrators, someone like me is threatening.  But, I keep going because I honestly believe that each of us needs to be the change we want to see.  Will you join me?

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Subject: Improving DOE Conflict Management Skills – Last Chance to Resolve this Conflict Appropriate

August 28, 2022

To:  Keith Hayashi, State of Hawai‘i Department of Education Superintendent

         Heidi Armstrong, State of Hawai‘i Department of Education Deputy Superintendent

Aloha Superintendent Hayashi and Deputy Superintendent Armstrong,

Perhaps you would like you to consider my offer to rewrite the end of this story.  As it stands now, the DOE is looking rather inept.  My recent UIPA request below has revealed that the DOE does not teach its employees any conflict management skills. That explains why my recent conflict at Na‘alehu School was handled so unprofessionally.  This is a golden opportunity for the DOE to learn from its mistakes.  I strongly suggest the DOE develop trainings and procedures about appropriately dealing with conflict. This will benefit the entire public school system.  This issue is not unique.

My banishment, per these DOE directives written by Ms. Roddy and supported by the State Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent, does not end the conflict.  The conflict does not end until it’s resolved appropriately.  If the story of how the DOE handles this conflict is at an end as far as you’re concerned, that shines a very poor light on the DOE because this ending is unethical and in some ways,  illegal, and it will come to light, one way or another.

First of all, I don’t think you can legally ban me from any public meeting held at any public DOE facility because some Principal and I had a disagreement, especially when there was no proper investigation to uncover all of the facts.  You certainly cannot legally ban me for engaging in protected civil rights activities which is the behavior in which I was engaged on July 29, 2022 when Ms. Roddy demanded that I get off the campus.  All I did was ask her if she was aware that Sue Aina, one of her teachers, had been granted a reasonable disability accommodation to work on the weekends and after hours.   Ms. Roddy is the one who violated the ADA.  After that, all I did was go to Ms. Aina’s classroom and try to help her organize her pencils.  So, I did refuse to leave, but Ms. Roddy had no right to demand that I do so because I asked about Ms. Aina’s accommodation.  I have no doubt that this problem has arisen because the Civil Rights Compliance Branch has continuously violated the ADA for over a decade; therefore, DOE employees, perhaps even the two of you, are poorly trained with regard to the ADA and probably unaware of the EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation.  If you were more educated on the subject, I think you would have handled this differently.  Maybe not.  Maybe you don’t care about federal ADA regulations.  And if you think that it’s moral to banish a handicapped teacher’s helper from campus based on a pretext of school safety when NOBODY ELSE WAS GOING TO BE WORKING THAT SATURDAY, well, let me be the first to tell you, it’s not okay.  It is, though a stereotypical example of how the DOE treats handicapped employees.

So, do you want to handle this conflict in a more professional manner?  If no, that’s the pathetic end to this phase of the story, and I move to the next phase.  If yes, I suggest you start to formulate conflict management training for your employees.  The articles that I sent to you are good starting point, and this conflict is a good test case.  Then, let’s try this again – the right way.  The first thing that should happen is a face-to-face conversation with all the parties involved and an impartial mediator. There won’t be any hissy fits about recording the proceedings.  I have nothing to hide.  Does the DOE?  The parties would be me, Wilma Roddy, Sue Aina, the office person mentioned in Ms. Roddy’s letter below (I think it was Rowena Del Rosario), and whomever the anonymous complainants were who heard my argument with Ms. Aina.  Let’s have them speak openly, with transparency, and hear what they have to say.  Ms. Roddy was not completely truthful in her letters, and with everyone in attendance, the truth has a chance, slim as it is, that the truth can be revealed.  Without that, the lies and gossip will prevail.

So, are you willing to try and create a better ending to this conflict, or are you going to stick to your guns, and keep the status quo in place? I look forward you your response.

Sincerely,

Vanessa Ott