STORY SUMMARY>>>
Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto told a special Senate committee Monday that Gov. Lingle could release enough federal stimulus funds to wipe out at least five of the seventeen furlough days for Hawaii’s public schools.
“Those are operational funds and they can be used to pay for salaries and restore any of the budget reductions that were taken over the course of the year,” Hamamoto told lawmakers. “So it's an allowable use and we would use it for that.”
The federal stimulus funds in question are known as Part B, which according to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are supposed to be used to help ensure children with disabilities have access to appropriate public education.
Hamamoto says Lingle currently controls $35 million of Part B funds, of which the Department of Education could use $23.7 million to address public school furloughs. Hamamoto believes the public school teachers’ union would willingly renegotiate the current contract if the federal monies became available.
“I would assume, rightly I hope, that HSTA would be open and agreeable if we can find the resources to bring the teachers back,” she said.
The Department of Education has already budgeted $104 million in so-called Part A federal stimulus funds. Those monies are being used to help fill the gap of spending restrictions imposed earlier this year by the governor and state lawmakers.
Hamamoto explained Part A stimulus funds could not be used to scale back public school furloughs because the net effect would be a reduction to DOE programs.
“Next year we have a larger deficit and so we're going to need (those monies) for next year.”
Gov. Lingle is currently in China promoting Hawaii tourism and could not respond to questions concerning Part B stimulus funds.
However according to Lingle’s Senior Policy Advisor Linda Smith, lawmakers earmarked Part B monies during the past legislative session and the funds are no longer available.
“We don’t want people to believe that there are monies available that have not been appropriated,” Smith told Khon2.
When contacted about the discrepancy over Part B funds, Department of Education spokesperson Sandy Goya stood by Hamamoto’s testimony to lawmakers.
Goya said that while Part B funds had been earmarked on a budgetary worksheet, a decision on how those funds should be spent has not yet been made by the governor.
“It’s like having a checking account that’s not yet funded,” said Goya.
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