On the second of 17 "furlough Fridays" today for public schools, scores of parents are expected to attend a legislative hearing meant to look at options for ending the controversial cost-saving plan that shuts down schools, as more campuses are seeking to convert staff planning days to make up lost classroom time.

Meanwhile, a federal court hearing on a challenge to the furloughs has been moved up to Tuesday. State Department of Education officials would not say whether they are preparing in the event that the furlough plan is overturned and schools are open next Friday.

But the DOEdid warn this week that if the furloughs are thrown out, then thousands of employees would have to be laid off to satisfy the department's budget restrictions.

The furlough Friday plan kicked off last week, and drove more than 800 parents and students to the state Capitol to protest what many saw as a new low for Hawaii's public education system. Today, there are no similar big rallies planned, though the hearing is expected to attract a large number of furlough opponents.

A small protest is also planned at Kähala Elementary School, where parents, teachers and kids will stage a "walk-in" to demand that their school be opened. A similar event was held at Noelani Elementary School in Mänoa last Friday.

'WAVE OF SUPPORT'

Jo Curran, who helped organize the rally last week, was working hard yesterday to get people to the legislative hearing today. "We're e-mailing our growing base to ask them to give testimony," said Curran, the mother of a child at Kähala Elementary School. She added that her group, Hawaii Education Matters, is getting more and more support "from ordinary moms and dads to politicians."

"We're getting a tremendous wave of support,"she said.

Curran said her group is looking for a compromise.

And she said part of the solution could be converting planning days to instructional ones. The DOE is getting a "steady stream" of applications from schools asking to convert planning days or to increase instructional time on days when school would have ended early, spokeswoman Sandy Goya said yesterday.

As of last Thursday, 80 schools had applied.

EXTENDED DEADLINE

Goya did not immediately have a new count yesterday. The deadline for applications was extended to Nov. 13, but it's unclear how long processing could take. The requests must be approved by a school's School Community Council and a two-thirds vote of teachers, before going to a four-member panel of the Board of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association, and the full school board.

Parents are watching the process, while also keeping tabs on a federal court hearing Tuesday that could block the furloughs if U.S. District Judge David Ezra rules in favor of a challenge filed on behalf of special education students.

The legislative hearing today was put on the calendar after the formation of a special committee earlier this week to study options to restore classroom instruction time. State. Sen. Will Espero, who is on the seven-member committee, said the hearing is to look "for a short-term plan to save this current school year."

"If we don't act we will become the lowest in the nation in terms of instructional days," said Espero, D-20th (Ewa Beach, Waipahu). "That is not a label I want. All of us must say that this loss of instructional days is unacceptable."

DAY CARE OPTIONS

Child care providers say the uncertainty over the future of furloughs is leaving many parents unsure on whether to put their kids in day care. Last Friday, hundreds of parents and kids flocked to malls, parks and beaches, while attendance at day care programs set up for the furlough Fridays was smaller than expected.

Two of the largest day care programs being offered statewide say they're expecting slight increases in attendance today. Kamaäina Kids, which is operating 20 sites statewide, has about 440 kids signed up — 40 more than last week.

The YMCA expects to get 251 kids at its 10 sites today, up from about 226.