Board of Education members yesterday sharply defined the differences between what they're asking for this session to improve the schools and what the governor has offered to give, but at the same time called for working with the state's top elected official for the sake of Hawai'i's children.

"It shouldn't be a battle," said board member Karen Knudsen. "Tell the governor we would be happy to meet with her," she told state budget director Georgina Kawamura, who had been invited to a BOE committee meeting to defend the governor's budget proposals and explain some of the cuts in board requests.

Despite Lingle's request for cooperation, the board asked for explanations for what Knudsen called "large discrepancies" between the two sides, including: a $24 million cut of the request to implement a unified school calendar; $5.3 million in cuts to the request for an additional $16 million to pay school electricity bills; $4.2 million in cuts for special education; and a cut of $5 million to technology improvements.

Newly elected board chairman Randall Yee said later the board will still appeal directly to the Legislature for the full $94.3 million more it has requested for operating costs, as well as $368 million more for capital improvement projects.

Kawamura said the governor's funding decisions center on information the department provides, the expected results "and what the public gets."

At particular issue is $40 million in cash the governor has included in the operating budget for immediate school repairs.

Kawamura sees the $40 million as an addition to what the board asked for in operating expenses, while the board and department see it as just a small piece of the $160 million in CIP funds they want to complete repairs on 97 aging schools.

Kawamura said the cash is just the beginning of a six-year commitment of $40 million annually to do immediate school repairs and keep abreast of maintenance before projects become bigger and more expensive.

Department officials say that money will fix only 22 more schools in an ongoing six-year project to repair the state's oldest structures. In this year of surplus, they say it would make more sense to allot all the money now and complete the repairs by 2008.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.