Under state law, by the 2014-2015 school year, all 101 secondary schools must offer at least 5 1/2 hours of instruction on average each day. Currently, only Hana High School on Maui and Castle High School in Kaneohe, Oahu meet that requirement. In a recent study, students on average a short by about 30 minutes per day, or 100 hours per school year. However, some schools are short by as much as an hour and 15 minutes per day, or 220 hours per school year. Members of the Hawaii legislature are extremely concerned that the remaining 99 schools will not be able to make enough changes to meet the mandate. Jill Tokuda, the Senate Education Committee Chairwoman, stated, “Most schools are really way off from meeting the minimum time and some drastic steps need to be taken. The 220-hour difference between some schools, that’s eight weeks a year. That’s staggering and it’s actually unacceptable. I do think the DOE knows the urgency and sees the opportunity to make this a huge gain and a huge win for students.”
