Furloughs and Hawaii's Public Schools

Furloughs and Hawaii's Public Schools
Hawaii Department of Education

Furloughs & Hawaii's
Public Schools

Supt Hamamoto's Video

FAQ School
Programs & Operations

FAQ Special Education

FAQ Furloughs

Calendars & Calculators 2009-10
Calendars 2010-11

Additional Questions?

Learning Resources

DOE Use of Facilities
( forms BO-1/BO-2 )

Furloughs and Hawaii's Public Schools

The state Department of Education is facing budget cuts of $473.7 million over two years (school years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011) for non-charter schools. Furloughs will assist the department in addressing its budget shortfalls by reducing labor costs. The Governor imposed budgetary restrictions on all state departments on June 1, 2009 to close the state's budget deficit. The department of education is facing restrictions of $127.7 million for school year 2009-10 and $142.6 million for 2010-11 for non-charter schools.

Furloughs are difficult and will require us to work together as a community to provide alternative learning opportunities and experiences for our students.

UPW Unit 1 Employees Ratify Contract
On March 12, 2010, the United Public Workers Unit 1 ratified a two-year contract with the State of Hawaii. Twelve-month DOE UPW Unit 1 employees will take nine (9) furlough days this school year and 24 days during school year 2010-2011. Furloughs for DOE UPW Unit 1 (included/excluded) employees will begin on Friday, March 19, 2010. (Refer to 12-month furlough calendar for DOE UPW Unit 1 employees. Furlough dates for DOE UPW Unit 1 employees at multi-track schools may differ.)
HGEA Employees Ratify Contract

On October 20, 2009, all bargaining units of the Hawaii Government Employees Association ratified their collective bargaining agreements with the State of Hawaii. During school years 2009-10 and 2010-11, 10-month HGEA employees will take 17 furlough days each year. Twelve-month HGEA employees will take 18 furlough days this school year and 24 days next school year. Furloughs for HGEA (included/excluded) employees will begin on Friday, October 23, 2009. (Refer to 10-month and 12-month furlough calendars for HGEA employees.)

HSTA ratifies contract with the State of Hawaii

On September 22, 2009, the Hawaii State Teachers Association announced public school teachers ratified the collective bargaining agreement with the State of Hawaii.

The two-year contract covers school years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. Beginning October 23, approximately 13,000 non-charter school teachers (including 575 12-month teachers) at 256 schools will begin taking furlough days. The official non-charter school enrollment for the 2009-2010 school year is 170,830 students, including 153,398 in regular education and 17,432 in special education. The furlough days are not applicable to public charter schools.

Teacher work time distribution and instructional minutes per week are negotiated items spelled out in the Hawaii State Teachers Association contract with the State of Hawaii, not by state or federal law. One hundred eighty days (180 days) has been the average no. of school days offered to Hawaii public school students in past years.

Taking into account the 17 furlough days, the number of instructional minutes will still be covered but we know student learning will be affected. We will not be able to incorporate the lost minutes into the four days of instructions. However, teachers are revisiting their lesson plans for the four remaining weekdays to ensure grade-level skills are addressed during that time

Furlough Calendars and Calculators

Note: Multi-track calendar information will be provided by the school

Frequently Asked Questions

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