School Psychologist in Hawaii (rent, insurance, credit)
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Hey I'm studying school psych and was wondering if you ever figured out anything about school psychs in hawaii. I am considering moving there at some point and was just curious. I looked on the public school system website for jobs and see they make a decent amount. Also as far as average salary goes according to NASP its in one of the higher paying regions.
I looked on the public school system website for jobs and see they make a decent amount. Also as far as average salary goes according to NASP its in one of the higher paying regions.
Hmm. Interesting. Let me tell you a little more about being a school psychologist in Hawai'i.
I worked as a school psych in Hawai'i for years. It can be a great experience in some complex areas and less in other complex areas. I loved my job, I really did. But there were some definite issues as well. The salary you see looks decent before you factor in cost of living and job hours. It's still not terrible, if you are not trying to support a family or save up a lot. Some areas give an additional monthly some (differential) for being a more rural area. Think about the cost of living as a factor. With a differential, the yearly pay is around 60k in many areas. Definitely doable if you don't have a lot of extra bills/expenses beyond rent and food and the insurance costs, or unless you're supporting several kids or a spouse. It's not bad pay, but it's nowhere near what many districts pay in areas with lower costs of living. It might be higher starting salary than many, but with your pay never increasing, that means that you'll be making less than you could elsewhere after several years on the job.
The job of a school psych at the masters level (same as Ed.S. level) is called a complex area school psych. Your hours are 7:45-4:30 and it's a 12 month position. Unlike most other states, it's not a certified position. It's classified, hence the hours and year schedule. You do earn 21 sick days and 21 vacation days a year, which is more than many full times jobs, but still nowhere near a "school" schedule. Ironically, your boss, a district level school psych, is a Ph.D. level who works a school schedule. Go figure.
The worst part about being a school psych in Hawai'i is that there is ONE slot in the pay schedule. The pay you see on the website? That's the pay. Period. It does not go up for years of service or experience or additional credits beyond a masters. If you have a Ph.D. with 30 years of experience and are in the complex area psych position, you get paid the same as someone with a masters who is brand new to the position. That is a huge reason why I think it's better for a brand new psych who wants to get experience in the job and who wants to live in Hawai'i. We lost many applicants once they realized they would get no additional money for their experience/degree. There isn't any "moving up the scale" in Hawai'i. The pay is negotiated by the union every 2 years, and it never changed in all the years I worked there. A few years before I started, the pay was almost 10K more, but I got there too late to get on that money train
The entire state of Hawai'i is one district. There are some advantages to that and some disadvantages. One thing about is that your job will be drastically different in different complex areas. In some areas, psychs are treated more as diagnosticians (which is what used to be used, almost exclusively, in lieu of school psychs) and you just test, test, test. In other areas, you may be able to write your job description a bit more (so it includes consultation and counseling, per the NASP ideal of school psych), but the testing load is still pretty big. Different complex areas also have different ways of interpreting IDEA eligibility guidelines with regards to the category of SLD. Not a big deal, but interesting.
My caseload was pretty darn big. Over 100 evaluations a year (probably 95 of them crammed into the 9mo school year) and 6 schools at times (well over 4000 kids in those schools- all elementary but one). Lots of driving in rural areas, to get from school to school. In Hawai'i, school psychs are not the caseload managers for evaluations, which helps take some responsibility/time off the plate. They have SSCs who do that. It's nice to not have that extra responsibility (no time for it!), but it also can create some complication (particularly in areas where they haven't adjusted to having the "district tester" want to actually be involved and know a little bit about special ed). If they have been in that position for a while, they are used to being in charge. There are also sometimes school counselors in schools (although these are often the first cut), but all schools must be serviced by a behavioral specialists (SBBH, aka "high level" counselor) because of a previous lawsuit. SBBH service counseling goals on IEPs. IME, they are almost always MFT trained individuals with little to no experience or understanding of schools, at least when they start out (and often for years afterwards).
Just some random thoughts about being a school psych in Hawai'i. Like I said, I really loved my job. I was annoyed at some factors (the mandatory long day and year-round schedule and the pay that never went up and the way school psychs were not really understood and were classified rather than certificated), but I loved working in the schools and with the populations I worked with.
You can find the job postings here. I see it doesn't give you what I searched for, so put in "school psychologist" and it should bring up all the positions (each island is listed). Remember it's considered a classified position, so you'll be searching the external classified positions. It's not on the HI DOE site. It's a different entity.
Last edited by GraceKrispy; 10-10-2015 at 11:11 PM..
I am retiring as a school psychologist from another state and am considering moving to Hawaii and working there for several years. I still feel young and energetic, and my grown daughter is moving there as well. Thanks for this helpful info. I'm surprised there is no step up in salary each year. I'm also surprised that you do so many evals. I was told that the school psych only does the cognitive piece, which I suppose helps when you do 100 evals! Was that true in your case? I am used to school hours and a lot of flexibility in my job...so...hmmmm, wondering how I would take to their set-up. So...even if students are not there, you are required to go to your office? That makes sense for some extra time, but sounds like a lot of "just putting in time" too. What do you do in the summer when students aren't there? Sick time is generous. Vacation days would add up to less than I get now, but not bad either. Very interesting. Do you feel like part of a team? Do you get to know staff at your schools? Which rural areas qualify for the bonus pay? Seeing that it's a 12 month position, do you feel like you have enough time to enjoy the beauty and vibe of this beautiful place?! Sorry for all the questions, but this is the first place I've read about my particular job in schools! Thanks in advance.
I am a practicing school psychologist in Alaska, but my dh and I own property on The Big Island and are slowly building a place for retirement.
I am wondering if Hawaii is similar to some bush areas in Alaska for school psychologists. Specifically I am wondering if a person can fly in to do assessments on an island that may not need a full time psych. Like Molokai or Lanai or Maui...I am sure these islands need evaluations but maybe not enough to support a full time psych. When we settle in Hawaii in a few years I plan to be semi retired and hope to work part time possibly doing evals.
Thanks in advance if you take the time to read and respond!
I am retiring as a school psychologist from another state and am considering moving to Hawaii and working there for several years. I still feel young and energetic, and my grown daughter is moving there as well. Thanks for this helpful info. I'm surprised there is no step up in salary each year. I'm also surprised that you do so many evals. I was told that the school psych only does the cognitive piece, which I suppose helps when you do 100 evals! Was that true in your case? I am used to school hours and a lot of flexibility in my job...so...hmmmm, wondering how I would take to their set-up. So...even if students are not there, you are required to go to your office? That makes sense for some extra time, but sounds like a lot of "just putting in time" too. What do you do in the summer when students aren't there? Sick time is generous. Vacation days would add up to less than I get now, but not bad either. Very interesting. Do you feel like part of a team? Do you get to know staff at your schools? Which rural areas qualify for the bonus pay? Seeing that it's a 12 month position, do you feel like you have enough time to enjoy the beauty and vibe of this beautiful place?! Sorry for all the questions, but this is the first place I've read about my particular job in schools! Thanks in advance.
Hi!
Great questions! I'll answer them from my experience.
Different complex areas around the state treat school psychs a little differently. In the past, when they were psychometrists, they only did cognitive testing. You might have heard from/be applying to a complex area that still has that mindset. Mine did not. Social workers tended to do adaptive (I have no idea why- it was like that when I started) and SSCs did the academic (and it was shocking how many had NO CLUE how to administer or interpret those tests). School psychs in my complex did cognitive, social/emotional, sometimes additional adaptive or academic (I often wanted more specific information than was found on the WJ, which was the ONLY test the SSCs ever gave). I also did a lot of observations. We were responsible for identifying things like autism and ADHD, so that necessitated a lot of additional testing/observations/rating scale collection/interviews.
I did feel there was flexibility in terms of HOW I went about doing things-- I did trainings for teachers, pre-referral observations and consultations (helped keep my caseload down a bit) and some mental health consulting and servicing. Most of the school psychs in my area did not-- I just couldn't be a "tester" only.
Yes, even if not student days, we had to report in (unless we took time off). Some of that time was used to catch up on the millions of reports we needed to finish, some of it was home visits for preschool testing, some of it was spent researching. I had a colleague who actually spent some of those days just watching movies in her room. I felt really wrong about that, so I read up on disabilities and current research.
When I first started the job, we were based in the central office and went out to the schools. We (I) pushed to be school-based. Once I was school based, I was definitely seen as more of a member of the school community, but I served such a number of schools that I was frequently out and about. I do feel, however, that I was a valued member, and I got that feedback. I am still in touch with many of my former colleagues (teachers and other professional staff) who sometimes tell me how much people miss me. I've been gone for 4 years and they still talk about missing me. I worked really hard to be part of the school communities.
As far as enjoying the place, I had 3 youngish children and a husband. I feel like we enjoyed the place and our friends, but it's the same time you'd have to enjoy the place with any other "9-5" year-long position.
I'm not sure if they're still doing the hard-to-fill differential, but if they are, it should be listed somewhere. I don't think it was offered in O'ahu, and I'm not sure about Maui. The most people want to live somewhere, the less likely it was to be offered.
Thanks for taking the time to describe the working conditions...so interesting! There are so many openings for school psychologists in Hawaii...hoping part time is an option for me when I retire in a few years!
I am wondering if Hawaii is similar to some bush areas in Alaska for school psychologists. Specifically I am wondering if a person can fly in to do assessments on an island that may not need a full time psych. Like Molokai or Lanai or Maui...I am sure these islands need evaluations but maybe not enough to support a full time psych. When we settle in Hawaii in a few years I plan to be semi retired and hope to work part time possibly doing evals.
Since Lana'i and Moloka'i are part of Maui county, I am reasonably sure that they do have at least one school psych who services those areas. That psych may fly from island to island as needed. I have never heard of a psych from Hawai'i island traveling to service those areas (and I worked on Hawai'i island). WRT working part time, I know when I moved there, they would not accept anything other than f/t. In fact, I asked them point blank (after they told me that they would not take part time) if they would rather have no service than part time service, and they basically said "yep." I don't know if you'd be able to convince someone otherwise, but I was pretty shocked. I had little babies when I first wanted to go back to work, and I didn't want a f/t schedule.
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