Honolulu Star-Advertiser from Honolulu, Hawaii • A6

A6 SUNDAY 6913 FROM PAGE ONE TOMB: Officials relied on Mauna 'Ala's kahu to guide their decision on the request JAMES CAMPBELL 1826-1900 DAVID PIIKOI 1 845-1 880 VICTORIA KINOIKI KEKAULIKE 1843-1884 ABIGAIL KUAIHELANI CAMPBELL 1858-1908 EDWARD JONAH KUHIO KELIIAHONUI KALAN IAN AOLE 1869-1887 1871-1922 ABIGAIL KAWANANAKOA 1882-1945 DAVID KALAKAUA I ABIGAIL KAPIOLANI KAWANANAKOA 1903-1961 KAWANANAKUA sfjjjj i yu4-i ara DAVID KAWANANAKOA 1 868-1 908 VIRGINIA KAWANANAKOA 1 926-1 998 1 LYDIA LILIUOKALANI KAWANANAKOA 1 905-1 969 EDWARD A. KAWANANAKOA 1924-1997 ESTHER KAPIOLANI KAWANANAKOA MARIGNOLI already there, and then when Kekaulike's (Kawananakoa's) momma passed away, Liliuokalani Kawananakoa Morris, she was buried at the Kawananakoa plot; they didn't request to be buried here." Mai'oho said younger Kawananakoas could request burial at Mauna 'Ala, "and it would be hard to refuse them." He said many people claim lineage to Kamehameha I because he had 21 wives of varying degrees of genealogical aristocracy, but "those are the ones that are going to have a hard time because they claim to be Kamehameha but (are) not from the ruling Kamehameha family." "Genetically Kamehameha is still with us but, you know, his ruling family, the sacred children and grandchildren of Kamehameha (are) no more," Mai'oho said. KAWANANAKOA'S proposed tomb would be constructed in an open area entirely at her expense and she plans to provide for its maintenance in perpetuity, according to her written request. Kawananakoa initially requested that the land board waive an environmental impact study, but Aila said the board did not agree. "An archaeological inventory survey will be done of the footprint of the (mausoleum grounds)," he said.

"That's a condition of the approval." Aila said the April 26 board meeting started off contentiously but was less so by the end, and that it was "very emotionally draining" for everyone. "This is a very sensitive and sacred site to many, many Hawaiians," he said. "And it's the first time since the 1950s that anyone has requested permission to be interred there." Hubbard said she was upset that the board gave significant weight to Mai'oho's recommendation for approval. "He has no right to create policy," she said. Aila said the board based Continued from Al The prominent philanthropist, whose genealogy puts her in line with Hawaiian royalty, was born to Ly-dia Kawananakoa and later legally adopted by her grandmother and grandfather, Abigail and David Kawananakoa.

She has assumed the title of princess throughout her life and has been a controversial figure among the Hawaiian community for as long as many can remember. "She's done many good things, but I'm offended when somebody takes on airs that really don't belong to them and (tried) to create a fairy tale where none exists," Hubbard said. With the land board's approval, Kawananakoa, now 87, won't merely be buried at Mauna 'Ala; she will be allowed to build an additional tomb at the mausoleum to house just her remains, or iwi. That has stirred up additional angst. But board Chairman William Aila Jr.

says a new crypt is needed because the existing one is full. Attempts to interview Kawananakoa for this story were unsuccessful. Some say Kawananakoa should be laid to rest on the Kawananakoa family plot at Oahu Cemetery, rather than in an additional tomb on the grounds of Mauna 'Ala, which hasn't been disturbed since her uncle and adopted brother, David Kalakaua Kawananakoa, was buried in the Kalakaua crypt in 1953. "It's an issue of undermining a sacred and historic site," Hubbard said. But Bill Mai'oho, kahu of the Royal Mausoleum in Nuuanu for nearly 18 years, supports the approval of Kawananakoa's request and said that his mother, who served as kahu for 28 years before him, anticipated it many years ago.

Mai'oho's family directly descends from the twin chiefs of Kamehameha who were tasked with burying the king's iwi, and has for more than 190 years observed its kuleana to oversee royal iwi. "We talked about this when my mom was here," Mai'oho said. "We had discussed it from the '60s through the 70s and the '80s and the '90s, saying that Kekau is going to want to be buried here. (She would say) just to let it be: if it's going to happen, then be truthful, be factual, because our culture is so rich already that it doesn't need to be enhanced or exaggerated upon, you know?" Kekau is short for Kawananakoa's given Hawaiian name, Kekaulike, the name of her great-grandmother, who was sister to Queen Kapiolani. MAI'OHO SAID it is not just his belief that Kawananakoa has the right to be buried at Mauna 'Ala, it follows Hawaiian culture.

"In my interpretation of our culture, which for me is not an interpretation, she has that blood right to be here," Mai'oho said. "In my capacity as a kahu to the iwi that are here at Mauna 'Ala, I believe that I cannot go against blood. I cannot say to her in today's world that she doesn't belong here because now this is the modern era, and (that) was the past." Kawananakoa's grandparentsadopted parents, Abigail and David Kawananakoa, are buried at Mauna 'Ala in the Kalakaua crypt along with their son, her uncle and adopted brother, David Kalakaua Kawananakoa. Her mother, aunts and cousins, however, are buried at Oahu Cemetery, Mai'oho said. Mai'oho explained that when Kawananakoa's aunt and adopted sister, Abigail Kapiolani Kawananakoa Field, died in 1961, her husband, Harry Field, chose to bury her at Oahu Cemetery.

"They wanted to bury her between the Kalakaua crypt and the chapel there was going to be a burial plot there, but her husband didn't feel comfortable about being buried here at Mauna 'Ala," Mai'oho said. "So (he) took Kapiolani down to Oahu Cemetery and the family plot that was ROYAL ROOTS Abigail Kawananakoa's genealogy puts her in line with Hawaiian royalty. Her grandfather and adopted father, David Kawananakoa, was named a prince of the realm in 1883 by King David Kalakaua, making him an eligible successor to the throne. Because Princess Kaiulani was the only successor to the throne, Kalakaua named David, Edward and Jonah Piikoi chiefs on the day of his coronation in case she didn 't survive. The men received the dynastic last names of Kawananakoa, Keliiahonui and Kalanianaole, respectively.

QUENTIN KAWANANAKOA 1961- its decision primarily on the Hawaiian decision-making process, rather than a Western way. "(The kahu), their testimony, their answers, their thoughts are given a higher weight and standing because that's what they've been trained for," he said. "They've been trained for answering the question: Does she have the genealogy to be (buried there)? For them the answer was yes, she has the genealogy to be there." But that might not be the SALARIES: Possible negative impact on recruitment among BOE members' concerns ABIGAIL K.K. KAWANANAKOA 1926- might be made. If Hubbard's request is approved, a quasi-judicial hearing would be held to determine whether the board's approval has legal standing, Aila explained.

Soulee Stroud, president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, said the association supports Kawananakoa's request. "We just feel that she has done a lot in the community and we respect her for that and really, with that in mind, her request to be at Mauna 'Ala is something that we felt is appropriate," Stroud said. Committee, who has introduced legislation in the past to boost the cap, said he'd be open to revisiting the superintendent's pay. However, both he and Tokuda pointed out that lawmakers don't set specific salaries for other public officials. "I don't know whether the Legislature should be the place to determine the superintendent's salary," said Takumi (D, Pearl City-Wai-pio-Pearl Harbor).

"What's appropriate is the superintendent equivalent to, say, the attorney general of the state or the dean of the medical school? When you look at the scope and responsibilities of the schools superintendent, it's inexplicable." He noted pay differences locally and nationally. "The head librarian at (the University of Hawaii at Manoa) makes $150,000. The director of the aquarium, which falls under the university, makes $150,000. With all due respect to those positions, does the superintendent who runs the 1 1th-largest school district in the country deserve more?" Takumi said. "There are superintendents who run districts of 3,000 students that's just a little more than Farrington High School and they make $180,000." Tokuda said lawmakers might need to rethink the methodology for determining the superintendent's salary.

"Should we just lift the cap," she said, "or change the methodology and maybe have a salary commission make recommendations?" SALARY DISPARITIES $150,000 Salary of schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi (pictured at left). It is the maximum allowed for the position under state law. $115,833 Assistant superintendents' average salary $118,973 Complex area superintendents' average salary last word. Hubbard said she filed a request for a contested case hearing with the Department of Land and Natural Resources after the meeting. She contends the board did not have the authority to approve Kawananakoa's request because it involves sacred Hawaiian land.

DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward said the state attorney general is still determining whether Hubbard has the standing to request the hearing, and she is unsure when a determination sure performance-based teacher evaluations and principal evaluations are in place, it would show that everyone is going to be held accountable and looked at in terms of how they're contributing to moving the system foward and improving student achievement," she said. BEYOND the internal pay disparities, BOE member Jim Williams, chairman of the board's Human Resources Committee, cited concerns about Hawaii's executive salary lagging behind those of mainland school districts. The average salary for a "big city" school superintendent was $239,000 in 2010, according to a Council of the Great City Schools survey the DOE presented to Williams' committee Tuesday. Salaries ranged from $157,000 to $329,000, with more than half of the 56 school districts surveyed reporting superintendent salaries of $250,000 or more. Several of the districts have far fewer students than Hawaii, including Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Hawaii's public schools enroll more than 180,000 students. Williams requested national salary data for deputy and assistant superintendents. He also suggested the board might want to take up the $150,000 statutory cap with legislators, who set that amount in 2001. Rep. Roy Takumi, chairman of the House Education $124,535 Average salary for a DOE high school 9S principal.

The pay ranges from $101,240 to $155,782. Continued from Al for the position under state law. Salaries of deputy, assistant and complex area superintendents are now set by the Board of Education but cannot exceed the superintendent's pay. Although lawmakers lifted the 80-percent restriction in 2011, other economic factors have since kept executive salaries stagnant. The assistant superintendents who include the DOE's chief officers in charge of fiscal services, human resources, instruction, strategic reform and information technology earn $1 15,833 on average, according to the DOE.

The complex area superintendents earn an average of $118,973. MEANWHILE, unionized school principals have seen net salary increases of about 10 percent over the same time period. "The result has been that there are a number of principals who actually, in fact, exceed in salary the salaries of the complex area and assistant superintendents and, in fact, there are a few who exceed the salary of the superintendent," Matayoshi said. The salary range for a DOE high school principal is $101,240 to $155,782, according to the department, with the average high school principal earning $124,535. Two principals currently earn more than Matayoshi.

Since 2006, school principals who are represented by the Hawaii Government among management-level positions versus field management positions," he said. "In order to recruit the best and the brightest, there needs to be pay equity." Sen. Jill Tokuda, chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee, said executive compensation is especially important in light of the DOE's aggressive education reforms and goals. "We're asking the department to go through some significant changes and it's requiring different skill sets. It's very demanding," said Tokuda (D, Kailua-Kaneohe).

"It's difficult to recruit and retain individuals when you've got a pay structure where you're asking people to assume a leadership post where their subordinates will be making more than them." The Board of Education Employees Association have received across-the-board increases totaling 11.5 percent and step increases equivalent to about a 3.6 percent hike, or about 15 percent total. Those increases were followed by furloughs between 2009 and 201 1 that amounted to a 10 percent cut in pay, which was subsequently restored. Principals then took a 5 percent pay cut in 201 1 which will be restored in July resulting in a 10 percent net increase over the seven years that Matayoshi says senior management pay hasn't moved. (DOE management also took a voluntary 5 percent pay cut over the past two years.) BOE Vice Chairman Brian De Lima cited concerns about the differences negatively affecting recruitment. "There isn't pay equity didn't take any formal action at its meeting, but BOE Chairman Don Horner said discussions on salary recommendations for senior management are ongoing.

"The board's first task was to address the salary needs of our staff members," he said, referring to a new four-year contract for teachers that calls for annual raises of at least 3 percent. "We are now focusing our attention on salary recommendations for the management team. Like the teachers' agreement, we shall be discussing compensation that is linked to achieving the objectives of our strategic plan." Tokuda said tying management pay to performance would send a positive message of top-down accountability. "Just as they've made.