Hawaii

Overview

During the 2021-2022 school year, Hawaii preschool enrolled 549 children, an increase of 158 from the prior year, as the program began to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. State spending totaled $6,912,020, down $2,630,313 (28%), adjusted for inflation since last year. State spending per child equaled $12,590 in 2021-2022, down $11,815 from 2020-2021, adjusted for inflation. Hawaii met 10 of 10 quality standards benchmarks.

What's New

In the 2021-2022 school year, most Hawaii State Public Charter Schools elected to enroll their pre-K classrooms to their enrollment capacity and provided flexibility in the use of virtual instruction as needed due to COVID-19. In-person instruction, though, predominated throughout the year. For EOEL classrooms, all were at reduced capacity during the 2021-2022 school year and all offered in-person instruction exclusively. 

The Hawaii State Legislature, through Act 257, Sessions Laws of Hawaii 2022, has appropriated $200 million for the School Facilities Authority to add or expand access to prekindergarten for eligible children across the state for the fiscal year 2022-2023. 

In January 2023, Hawaii was awarded a federal Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B–5) renewal grant for $6.6 million. The University of Hawaii Systems is the lead in this grant.

Background

In Hawaii, the Executive Office on Early Learning (EOEL) Public Prekindergarten Program serves 4-year-old children, with priority given to students considered to be “at-risk,” including those from low-income families, now defined as 300% FPL. The EOEL Public Prekindergarten Program is required to operate on the same schedule as public elementary schools, providing services for 1,080 hours a year. 

Beginning in SY 2020-2021, through Act 46, SLH 2020, the legislature gave statutory authority to the State Public Charter School Commission to administer the early learning program in charter schools. Act 46, SLH 2020 also changed the eligibility criteria to include both three- and four-year-old children. No other priority categories were defined. 

Teachers in the EOEL Public Prekindergarten Program and the Hawaii State Public Charter School (SPCS) Early Learning Program are part of the Hawaii State Teachers Association and, as such, receive salary and benefit parity with teachers in K–12 classrooms. Lead teachers in both programs are required to have a bachelor’s degree with licensure in ECE, while assistant teachers are required to have a CDA credential or coursework for a certificate that meets the requirements for child development associate credential preparation. The EOEL Public Prekindergarten Program and the SPCS Early Learning Program classrooms receive CLASS observations twice a year, and formative child assessments using Teaching Strategies GOLD are conducted throughout the year with three checkpoints. In addition, all programs undergo fiscal monitoring annually and a review of program records more than once per year.