For important information regarding testimony for Board meetings, please read below.
To submit written testimony, and/or sign up to testify either in person or virtually, please click on the appropriate meeting below.
Please be sure to select the correct meeting and meeting agenda item; Board members will only see your testimony under whichever meeting/item you select.
Select Meeting
PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Under Hawaiʻi’s Sunshine Law (chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes), all testimony, both written and spoken, must be about an item on the agenda.
Written Testimony
The Board accepts written testimony on any agenda item. We strongly encourage this as the primary way to submit testimony.
All testimony is posted publicly and permanently on the Board’s website, and referenced in meeting minutes. Remove or block out any personal information you do not want posted (like your name, email, phone number, or picture).
You can submit written testimony:
- Online using the appropriate form here: https://boe.hawaii.gov/submit-testimony/. Fill out one form for each agenda item you want to comment on; or
- By mail to: Hawaiʻi State Board of Education, P.O. Box 2360, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 96804.
Written testimony received more than three business days before the meeting will be sent to Board members and posted on the website's meeting agenda. Written testimony received after this time but before the meeting will also be posted on the website’s meeting agenda by the start of the meeting. Any written testimony received after the last posting of testimony before the meeting and up until 11:59 p.m. of the meeting day will be posted as late testimony.
Oral Testimony
The Board accepts oral testimony in person and as a courtesy, also online. To sign up to testify either in person or online, fill out the appropriate form here: https://boe.hawaii.gov/submit-testimony/. Fill out one form for each agenda item you want to testify on.
For in-person testimony: Come to the table when your name is called.
For online testimony:
- You must register and log in to the WebEx meeting online using the details in the meeting agenda. Use the exact same name, including any alias, you used on the sign-up form. We cannot call on you if you use a different name.
- All testifiers must use their computer audio to participate. We cannot call on you if you call in only by phone. Test your speakers and microphone beforehand to make sure they work.
- During the meeting, your microphone should be muted until it is your turn to testify. When your name is called, a message will appear asking you to unmute. If we cannot hear you, we will call the next testifier.
- For remote meetings, a message will also appear asking you to turn on your camera. If you wish to be on camera, turn on the camera. Test your camera beforehand to make sure it works.
- We may turn off a participant's audio or video if needed.
- For detailed steps on how to join online, go to https://boe.hawaii.gov/participate-virtually/.
Board office staff will call on testifiers by agenda item. You can only testify on an agenda item once, even if you signed up multiple times for the same item. When it is your turn to testify, say your name, organization, and position if you have one, and the agenda item you are speaking on.
Each person has three minutes to testify, but the chairperson may change this time. You will hear a single bell when you have 30 seconds left. You will hear a double bell when your time is over, and your microphone may be automatically muted. Testifiers cannot give their time to other people.
Upon request, this notice is available in alternative/accessible formats.