Principals urge Senate to preserve complex area superintendents as bill to repeal posts moves forward with amendments

SB 3334 — a bill that would repeal the complex area superintendent (CAS) positions and shift principal selection, evaluation and some decisionmaking to district-level superintendents and School Community Councils (SCCs) — drew extensive public testimony on Feb. 13.

More than a hundred written submissions and a large roster of principals and school leaders testified in opposition. Principals from neighbor-island and Oahu complexes described CASs as critical regional leaders who provide instructional leadership, operational support and crisis coordination. Several witnesses credited CAS leadership with the schools' response after the Lahaina wildfires, saying CASs coordinated FEMA, Army Corps, EPA and other recovery partners.

Board of Education vice chair Bill Arakaki said the board offered comments and urged careful review, while Heidi Armstrong (DOE deputy) and other DOE witnesses testified in opposition, arguing that eliminating CAS positions would dismantle regional leadership credited with driving academic gains and could undermine oversight and stability.

Some community members testified in support, saying the Department of Education has too many layers of bureaucracy and that removing CAS positions could localize accountability and restore school-level control. The committee ultimately adopted multiple amendments that would restructure leadership into a two-tier district model (one superintendent and one deputy per district), empower principals in certain ways, and send the revised bill to the Ways and Means Committee for public fiscal review and comment.

Next steps: SB 3334 moves to Ways and Means with adopted SD1 amendments. The committee asked stakeholders to weigh in on the fiscal and operational consequences in that forum.