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Panel backs pilot public‑private partnerships to ease charter school facilities shortage
Summary
The House Education Committee voted Feb. 12 to advance HB 17‑83 with amendments after SFA and charter school leaders said public‑private partnerships could accelerate school construction and offset high real‑estate and permitting costs.
The House Committee on Education voted to advance HB 17‑83 after testimony from the School Facilities Authority and charter school leaders that new public‑private partnership models could speed construction of school facilities and reduce costs.
SFA’s executive director told the committee that Hawaii faces a heavy pipeline of projects and traditional delivery is too slow and expensive, citing roughly 17 projects and large cumulative costs. ‘‘The usual way is too expensive, too slow ... there has to be another way,’’ the SFA representative said, describing a pilot approach modeled on availability‑payment structures used elsewhere.
Matt Sotelo, executive director of Hawaii Technology Academy, testified that facilities are ‘‘our single greatest barrier to expanding access,’’ noting the school operates six campuses on four islands with about 2,200 students and has grown roughly 16% in four years. Sotelo called HB 17‑83 a ‘‘game changer’’ that would help meet demonstrated community needs while leveraging private investment strategies.
DOE Deputy Superintendent Jesse Suki clarified that Section 2 expands SFA’s authority to partner with private developers and to include public charter schools among the public school facilities covered by the authority. DOE counsel also noted that if the bill were strictly limited to charter schools DOE would be less concerned; committee members sought language clarifying scope.
SFA described an initial funding concept of $3,000,000 to capture predevelopment proposals, potentially awarding roughly $1,000,000 per concept to improve proposal quality. Committee members asked for more concrete cost and scope details; the committee adopted an HD1 that removes a phrase expanding scope to "other public school facilities," blanks specific dollar amounts from the bill language and incorporates funding details into the committee report for follow‑up.
The committee recorded a roll call on the recommendation to pass with amendments; the chair and vice chair voted in favor, and several members recorded "aye" votes; one member was excused. The committee directed DOE and SFA to provide follow‑up information on costs, proposed pilot design, and statutory language for final committee report drafting.
