‘Just the beginning’: State ahead of schedule, under budget on ambitious Ready Keiki preschool program

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Renovation work for the state’s new expanded preschool classrooms is ahead of schedule and under budget, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said.

The state on Wednesday signed the first 11 contracts for Ready Keiki preschool program at a cost of about half previous estimates.

“We can tell you that 11 classrooms came in under budget. Instead of $1 million per renovated classroom, it is coming in at about $500,000,” said Luke.

“We are able to open classroom one year early. Eleven classrooms will be open August of 2023 as opposed to August of 2024.”

The state said it achieved this by simplifying the construction specifications and by streamlining the bidding process to allow contractors to pre-qualify for the work.

Schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi said these strategies could be applied to other DOE projects to cut costs and prevent delays.

“We’re taking those lessons and we’re implementing them to ensure that we can definitely do things a lot quicker,” he said.

The state also rolled out a new website ― www.readykeiki.org ― which allows parents to enroll their children in preschools and provides updates on construction scheduling and how the money used for expanding preschool services is being spent.

“This is just the beginning. But you can already see the vision and the hard work starting to pay off.,” said Bruce Voss, chair of the Board of Education.

“The entire generation of our students will benefit,”

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