Whitney Aragaki of Waiakea High School was named the 2022 Hawaii State Teacher of the Year in December.

The interim superintendent, meanwhile, apologized for the recent failure of dozens of schools to report the number of Covid cases as required by law.

The economic outlook is sharply improved from last year’s legislative session, when the theme was staving off job cuts or teacher furloughs.

Hundreds of teachers called out sick, while many students were kept home due to illness or parental fears about a surge in Covid-19.

The decision came as many DOE schools face severe staff shortages in the first week back to school after a winter break.

Some schools had to deploy other staff to monitor students as the state Department of Education sought to avoid closures.

The interim superintendent stressed the importance of maintaining in-person instruction for students’ academic and emotional growth.

A 2-week winter break will relieve some strain on displaced families and teaching staff but the future outlook is still cloudy.

The numbers remain relatively low but raise concern about a possible surge ahead of the two-week winter break.