Hawaii State Superintendent of Schools Christina Kishimoto says schools will stay closed through the end of the 2019-2020 school year.  However, instruction will continue, with teachers guiding students through learning remotely.

Additionally, all summer school will also be online.

Kishimoto also said she wants to provide some paid interships for students who need to complete a certain number of working hours to get full credit.

The Board of Education has approved the Department of Education’s request to modify high school graduation and commencement requirements for the graduating class of 2020. This approval in part helped finalize plans to utilize grades from the third quarter to determine the final grade for student courses.

Traditional commencement exercises are being replaced with alternative celebrations to recognize graduating seniors.  Those alternative celebrations will take place in the latter half of May.

In addition, the Department is planning to initiate a health triage hotline and telehealth service by the end of April through the Hawaii Keiki program, a partnership between the Hawaii State Department of Education and the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene. The service will provide parents access to a phone line answered by a registered nurse (RN) who can assess physical and mental health needs, connect public school students to services, and follow up with the family to ensure services were received.  

Dr. Kishimoto took part in Governor Ige’s Friday afternoon COVID-19 update.