Keith Hayashi, Superintendent

Keith T. Hayashi is superintendent of the Hawai‘i public schools system, overseeing 160,000 students, 258 campuses and more than 40,000 employees. Hayashi's more than 30-year career with the Hawai‘i State Department of Education spans the school, complex area and state level. He led Waipahu High School as principal for 12 years, a position for which he received numerous accolades, including Hawai‘i High School Principal of the Year and the collegiate Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction. He is credited with pioneering the Early College program in Hawai‘i public schools and earned the distinction for Waipahu High as the state's first nationally recognized wall-to-wall academy model school. 

As superintendent, he was honored in 2023 with the state’s inaugural “Workforce Development Hero” Lifetime Achievement Award for his support and advocacy around strengthening the state's education pipeline to support workforce needs. Hayashi was also recognized as the Hawai‘i United Okinawa Association 2023 Legacy Honoree for his innovative approaches and commitment to student success. He was also named Inspirational Leader of the Year in 2024 by Center for Tomorrow's Leaders for his vision and integrity as a leader and strong supporter of CTL's commitment to equip and empower young leaders to solve Hawai‘i's most entrenched problems.

The Board of Education on May 19, 2022, voted to hire Hayashi as superintendent for a term that began July 1, 2022. Hayashi, who was tapped from his position as principal of Waipahu High School to serve as interim superintendent on Aug. 1, 2021, was one of three finalists for the permanent position.

Hayashi began his education career at Lehua Elementary as a teacher and went on to serve as a district resource teacher in Leeward O‘ahu. He also served as a vice principal and principal at the elementary, middle and high school levels before becoming Pearl City-Waipahu Complex Area Superintendent. At the state level, he served as interim deputy superintendent and as interim superintendent in 2017. Hayashi earned his bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He also holds two Master of Education degrees — in curriculum and instruction, and educational administration — from UH Mānoa.

Heidi Armstrong was named deputy superintendent of academics on Sept. 2, 2022. She served as interim deputy superintendent since July 1 and as assistant deputy superintendent from April to June to ensure a smooth leadership transition for the Office of the Deputy Superintendent.

Deputy Armstrong brings over 30 years of experience spanning school, district and state leadership positions.

She previously served as assistant superintendent for the Office of Student Support Services (OSSS) and as complex area superintendent for the Campbell-Kapolei Complex Area. Prior to becoming CAS in 2012, she was the principal of Iroquois Point Elementary, where she made continuous improvements in school performance and quality. She began her career with the Department as a math teacher at Pohakea Elementary, where she later became vice principal. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Randolph Moore, Deputy Superintendent

Randolph Moore was named interim deputy superintendent of operations on May 13, 2024, to oversee key centralized functions in the Department, including the state offices responsible for facilities, fiscal services, talent management and information technology.

Moore spent over three decades in executive roles at major institutions in Hawai‘i, including Castle & Cooke and Kāne‘ohe Ranch. Upon retiring, he earned his teaching degree from Chaminade University and pursued a second career teaching math at Central Middle School, now named Ke‘elikōlani Middle. He also holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Swarthmore College and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. 

Moore then joined the HIDOE's executive leadership team as assistant superintendent of what was then known as the Office of Facilities and Support Services. After retiring a second time, Moore was appointed by two governors to the Board of Regents for the University of Hawai‘i system, where he served for a decade, including four terms as regents chairperson and three terms as vice chairperson.

Tammi Oyadomari-Chun was named deputy superintendent of strategy on Aug. 18, 2022, and is responsible for leading, directing and supervising the strategic planning, transformation and modernization, and implementation of the strategic initiatives of the Department.

She rejoins the Department, having previously served as assistant superintendent of the Office of Strategy, Innovation and Performance from 2015 to 2017. Oyadomari-Chun most recently was interim associate vice president for academic affairs for the University of Hawai‘i community college system.

Oyadomari-Chun's past work also includes serving as vice president at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, policy analyst for former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, executive director of Hawai‘i P-20, and research analyst for the RAND Corporation and the University of Pennsylvania. She previously served as a parent representative on ‘Āina Haina Elementaryʻs School Community Council. She holds a doctorate in education from the University of Southern California, a master's degree from Harvard University in public policy, and a bachelorʻs degree from Pomona College in government and public policy analysis.

Sean Bacon was appointed assistant superintendent on Dec. 16, 2022, after serving in an interim capacity since May 2021, to oversee the talent management needs — recruiting, development, retention, employee and labor relations — of the Department's workforce of 22,000 full-time employees and 20,000 substitute teachers and casual employees.

Bacon brings with him over 10 years of experience within the Office of Talent Management (OTM). Prior to his appointment, Bacon served as the executive assistant for OTM, where he worked closely with the assistant superintendent to provide support in direction, leadership and management. Before that he served as a personnel specialist within the Department for six years. He also has school-level experience having previously served as principal at Honaunau Elementary, vice principal at Kealakehe Intermediate, and counselor and fifth-grade teacher at Kealakehe Elementary. He has a master’s degree in school counseling from University of Southern Mississippi and a bachelor’s in elementary education from Aquinas College.

Brian Hallett, Assistant Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer, Office of Fiscal Services

Brian Hallett was appointed assistant superintendent of the Office of Fiscal Services (OFS) and chief financial officer on June 19, 2020, to oversee HIDOE's accounting, budget, and procurement activities and systems serving the needs of the schools, school complexes, complex areas and the state central office. Hallett provides direction and guidance for all levels of the organization in support of sound fiscal management practices.

Hallett has worked in the state government sector for the past 25 years and has served as HIDOE's budget director for seven years with a brief stint as chief of staff to the speaker of the Hawaii House of Representatives. Earlier in his career, he served in budget administrator and specialist roles for HIDOE's Budget Execution Section, the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, the House Committee on Finance and the Department of Public Safety. Hallett holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington with a dual major in political science and environmental studies, and studied Urban and Regional Planning and Natural Resource Management at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Audrey Hidano, Interim Assistant Superintendent, Office of Facilities and Operations

Audrey Hidano was appointed interim assistant superintendent for the Office of Facilities and Operations (OFO) on Dec. 22, 2023, to oversee the construction and maintenance of school facilities and operations of food services, transportation and security.

Hidano has been working on special projects in OFO since June 2023. She brings extensive experience in the private sector construction industry as well as state government leadership to this role, having served as deputy comptroller for the Department of Accounting and General Services, and deputy director of the Department of Transportation and Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. As deputy comptroller she assisted in overseeing the eight divisions under DAGS responsible for providing the physical, financial, and technical infrastructure to support state departments and agencies in accomplishing their missions. 

Hidano also co-founded Hidano Construction, Inc., which focused primarily on residential construction before dissolving in 2016. She has served and continues to serve in various leadership roles on community and education-related boards, industry associations and union organizations.

Elizabeth Higashi, Assistant Superintendent, Office of Strategy, Innovation and Performance

Elizabeth Higashi was appointed assistant superintendent for the Office of Strategy, Innovation and Performance (OSIP) on Aug. 15, 2024, to oversee the systemization and support of improvement efforts related to statewide assessments, strategic planning, program evaluation, data governance and analysis, and collaboration with public and private partners. 

Higashi had served in an interim capacity since Jan. 1, 2024 and was previously the director of the Community Engagement Branch, where she collaborated with public and private partnerships to expand learning opportunities and secure resources to ensure that students, educators, schools, families and communities are supported. Prior to that, she was a special education teacher at Waipahu High School and served as assistant principal at Waikele Elementary and Waipahu High School. She holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from Gonzaga University, a master's degree in exceptionalities from University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and a master's degree in educational leadership from Chaminade University. 

Annie Kalama, Assistant Superintendent, Office of Student Support Services

Annie Kalama was appointed as assistant superintendent on Dec. 16, 2022 after serving in the position in an interim capacity since May 2022. Prior to this appointment, she served as director of the Exceptional Support Branch under OSSS, supporting schools and complex areas with policies, procedures, guidelines, tools and professional development to ensure students with disabilities have the access and opportunity to succeed in engaging learning environments. She brings 38 years of special education experience spanning the school, complex area and state office levels.

Michael Otsuji, Assistant Superintendent, Office of Information Technology Services

Michael Otsuji was appointed as assistant superintendent of the Office of Information Technology Services (OITS) on May 4, 2023 to oversee the Department’s statewide information and telecommunication systems and services for schools and offices.

Otsuji brings over 40 years of professional experience to HIDOE, including managing modernization projects in various roles with the state Departments of Health, Labor and Industrial Relations, Taxation and Enterprise Technology Services. He was directly involved with the conversion of all executive branch state departments to a unified platform and also led efforts to improve the processing of tax payments and online tax filings.

Teri Ushijima was appointed as assistant superintendent for the Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design on Dec. 16, 2022, after serving in an interim capacity since Nov. 2020. Prior to her appointment, Ushijima served as the director of Assessment and Accountability under the Office of Strategy, Innovation and Performance. The branch is responsible for the development and implementation of the Department’s statewide summative assessments and the associated accountability systems. Prior to her role as director, Ushijima served as executive director of the Leadership Institute, ‘Aiea-Moanalua-Radford complex area superintendent as well as a principal at Mokulele Elementary and vice principal at Moanalua High. She is a National Milken Educator Award recipient and also taught at Mililani Mauka, Mokulele, Leihoku and Honowai Elementary schools.