The search for the next new permanent superintendent of Hawaii’s massive public school system is down to seven candidates, and the state Board of Education has released a revised timeline, plus a proposed selection process meant to increase transparency and shed light on how the finalists would solve problems and lead.

There is much at stake in the selection of Hawaii’s next permanent state schools superintendent. He or she will need to lead the nation’s only statewide public school system, widely considered the 10th largest in the U.S., through the remainder of the pandemic, student learning shortfalls, a chronic teacher shortage and numerous other issues.

The state Department of Education includes 257 regular public schools, 37 charter schools, 171,000 students, 22,600 permanent employees, 20,000 casual hires and substitute employees, and an annual operating budget of more than $2 billion.

Under the updated timeline:

>> Friday: The board’s Superintendent Search Investigative Committee will publicly post materials that will include the names of a yet-to-be-determined number of finalists.

>> May 5: At the board’s general business meeting, originally scheduled for May 19, the search committee will formally present the names of the finalists and adopt a detailed process for interviewing them.

>> May 19: A newly scheduled special meeting will be dedicated to interviewing the finalists, and the board will also deliberate their merits, all in a public format. The finalists also will be asked to present their approach to solving a hypothetical problem — “a performance task designed to measure real-world competencies,” said board Chair Catherine Payne, who heads the search committee. The board “probably” will vote at that meeting to recommend one person, Payne said.

>> June 16: The BOE is expected to give final approval to the next permanent superintendent.

The current selection process has been more transparent than with some past Hawaii superintendents.

The board is “closely adhering to the sunshine law” in avoiding private meetings on personnel matters unless it is in the context of a permitted interaction group doing initial vetting of candidates, Payne said.

“Final deliberation and voting on the final candidates must be in public,” she added. “Somewhat uncomfortable, but transparent.”

Payne said she could not release the seven candidates’ names, only the finalists’ names on Friday. When asked whether the seven are from Hawaii and/or have teaching backgrounds, she said, “It’s a mix. … They didn’t have to have a degree in education, but it would be very hard to meet the criteria if they didn’t have some experience in education leadership.” Deep understanding of Hawaii’s unique culture also was a crucial part of the criteria, she said.

Former Waipahu High School Principal Keith Hayashi, a 32-year veteran of the DOE, has been serving as interim superintendent since Christina Kishimoto stepped down as superintendent in July. While he has publicly indicated interest in the permanent position, and his work as interim head has been seen by some as an unofficial tryout, Payne emphasized that Hayashi is not a shoo-in to land the job. “There’s no guarantee at all for anyone,” she said.

The application period started March 7 and was supposed to end April 1, but after a “lower-than-expected” 27 applications were received, including only about a dozen qualified “tier 1” applicants, the deadline was extended to April 12, Payne said. By the extended deadline, 35 people in all had applied, Payne said.

The candidates were placed into three tiers by a consultant, and the board’s search committee has conducted initial virtual interviews with the seven candidates from the top tier. The search committee includes Payne as well as board members Kaimana Barcarse, Lynn Fallin and Kili Namau‘u. Members of a separate advisory group of stakeholders have viewed the interviews to provide the search committee with feedback.

Public testimony on the candidates is welcome at the meetings, but Payne said written testimony is preferred. Verbal testimony will be subject to a time limit that will be determined by the number of testifiers at each meeting, but the longest the limit will be is four minutes, she said.