By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Bishop Larry Silva, in consultation with the Catholic schools superintendent search committee, has appointed acting superintendent Llewellyn Young as superintendent of Hawaii Catholic Schools Nov. 12.
He had been filling in since July for his predecessor, Michael Rockers, who retired at the end of the last school year. Before that, Young had been associate superintendent since Jan. 21, 2019, succeeding Betsey Gunderson.
Young was previously principal of St. Joseph School, Hilo, for five years.
As acting superintendent, he has shepherded Hawaii’s Catholic schools through the successful opening of the new school year during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a phone interview Nov. 13, Young told the Hawaii Catholic Herald that when Bishop Silva called him on Nov. 9 to tell him of his appointment, he was “absolutely thrilled and a little terrified” considering “we live in an unusual situation” walking through the middle of a pandemic.
He said his biggest immediate challenge is preserving the quality of education during this “new normal” of regulations and government mandates — “making sure that our schools thrive rather than merely survive.”
“So far so good,” he said. Despite the virus threat “we continue with a high amount of success.”
But Young wanted to make it clear that “we are not immune to the virus.”
“There has been some impact on faculty members” with a few testing positive, he said.
A few students have also tested positive.
“Not many, thanks be to God. Literally a handful” out of an enrollment total of more than 6,800. Young said excellent planning and procedures have allowed the schools to successfully handle the few cases they were presented with.
“It is no secret,” he said of the positive tests. “It is important for the public to know” that the schools have managed them effectively.
“I am very proud of our schools,” he said.
Despite the pandemic, the superintendent is moving forward quickly with the long-term goals of improving school governance and finances. Toward that end, the Hawaii Catholic Schools office is experimenting with a new governing model that uses a single school board, or cohort, to serve three schools. A pilot program began July 1, joining St. Michael, Waialua; St. Joseph, Waipahu; and St. Theresa, Kekaha, under a single governing board.
Young said that in a short time the model has been successfully helping pastors, principals and schools refine their schools’ focus financially and with regard to sound governance, support and accountability.
Another action his schools office is tackling is marketing, Young said, “spreading the good news of our quality education.”
In this regard, he said, “COVID-19 has provided an opportunity” to talk to parents seeking a safe, values-based school for their children.
In the past few months, Hawaii’s Catholic schools have received a great amount of positive publicity, he said. “Our teachers are doing fantastic, innovative things. Every day, I stand in awe of them.”
Young comes to the job with more than 20 years in educational administrative experience. He held teaching and administrative positions at Arizona Western College at Yuma, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Hawaii College of Education Hawaii Leadership Academy.
Originally from Kauai, Young attended the University of Maryland and the University of Hawaii at Hilo. He received his master’s degree in education administration from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and holds a doctorate in education with an emphasis in educational administration and educational psychology.
In announcing his appointment, Dara Perreira, human resources director for the Diocese of Honolulu, noted that Young has already been a “tremendous contributor to Hawaii Catholic Schools in his role as both associate superintendent and acting superintendent.”
“Most notably, during this challenging time of the COVID pandemic, he has helped and supported the preparation and execution of our parochial schools in re-opening face-to-face instruction while strengthening distance learning options,” Perreira said.
“He has been in constant contact with the governmental departments such as the Department of Health, Department of Education and other state and county leadership offices to ensure our commitment to safety and health on campuses,” she said. “He has also kept abreast of grants and other resources to assist schools in their new way of operating during this pandemic.”
The Catholic School office will again hire Gunderson as interim associate superintendent until the end of the 2020-2021 school year.
What’s in a name?
How did a part-Hawaiian Kauai kid end up with a Welsh surname as his given name? As Young explains it, his Hawaiian great-grandmother received a Bible from a Protestant missionary that happened to have a list of English and Welsh names written on the cover. The woman, who had the honor of naming all of her 10 grandchildren, used the names on the Bible. The result was a generation of kids with very erudite-sounding names, Young said, one of them being Llewellyn’s father. The new superintendent is Llewellyn Jr.
