A former Kamehameha Schools executive and a former teacher and principal have been named to fill two vacancies on the state Public Charter School Commission.
Volunteers to serve on the nine-member commission, which has a statutory mission “to authorize high-quality public charter schools throughout the state,” are appointed by the Board of Education.
Sylvia Hussey, executive director of the Native Hawaiian Education Council, was appointed to fill the remaining term of former commissioner Peter Hanohano, which expires June 30. She also was appointed to a subsequent three-year term that runs through June 2019.
Hussey worked for Kamehameha Schools from 2002 to 2014, including as vice president of administration and vice president of educational support services. She holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from Brigham Young University-Hawaii, a master’s degree in education foundations and a doctorate in education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
John Kim was appointed to fill the remaining term of former commissioner Peter Tomozawa, which expires June 30, 2017.
Kim is chairman of the governing board for Hawaii Technology Academy, the state’s largest charter school with more than 900 students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12. Kim’s position with the school represents a conflict that he will need to resolve before joining the commission, according to the BOE.
Kim holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in educational administration from UH, as well as a master’s degree in business administration from Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama.
He previously taught at ‘Iolani School and held various teaching positions at a high school and colleges in Washington state. He also worked as a principal and vice principal in a small public school district in Washington.
The BOE also reappointed Kalehua Krug and Mitch D’Olier — whose current terms on the commission expire June 30 — to three-year terms that run through June 2019.
Krug, who holds both master’s and doctorate degrees in education from UH, is an educational specialist with the Department of Education’s Office of Hawaiian Education. He has served on the charter school commission since 2014.
D’Olier is chairman of Kaneohe Ranch Co. and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation. He has served on the commission since 2013.
A 2012 law that established the commission overhauled the state’s charter schools law and tightened oversight of academics and finances after reports surfaced of questionable use of public money, possible nepotism and poor academic performance at some charter schools.
The level of oversight imposed by the commission has been a point of contention between the agency and schools, which report to their own governing boards rather than to the BOE. Some schools contend that the commission is too heavy-handed and routinely infringes on their autonomy. Complaints from some charter schools prompted the BOE earlier this year to take a closer look at the commission’s performance.