Only a modest-sized crowd turned out February 28 for a "community talk story" and feedback meeting in the Hauula Elementary School cafeteria with Hawaii State Board of Education (BOE) Windward representative John Penebacker — but they discussed some interesting issues. Such as:

• Penebacker [pictured at upper right] said a proposal to switch from the traditional A-B-C to standards-based report cards has been deferred at the high school level.

"It's not quite there yet," he said, adding he was concerned about such new report cards being accepted when graduates apply for university admission. He also noted some teachers feel deferring the report system is "an attempt to abandon standards-based education… We're not going to do that."

• State Department of Education (DOE) Deputy Clayton Fujie, who was also at the meeting, noted that recent shooting incidents have caused changes in Chapter 19 school discipline procedures. For example, "any student caught with firearms on campus, it's an automatic one-year suspension."

He added that the alcohol and drugs rules also changed about three years ago: "If you get picked up with alcohol or drugs, there's a review process."

• A Kaneohe man who attended the meeting asked about discipline for off-campus fights. "For administrators, our jurisdiction is the school," Fujie said. "We all have to work together, and we'll work with the communities; however, normally those fights would be the purview of the police."

Lea Albert, Windward District Complex Area Superintendent and former principal of Kahuku High, quickly pointed out, "We will call the police. Our value system does not tolerate violence."

For example, Donna Lindsey — acting principal at King Intermediate and former Complex Academic Officer for Kahuku Complex who was based at Hauula Elementary — said the DOE is investigating a recent incident "to find if the instigation started on campus."

She added that in terms of sexual harassment, "the students really don't understand it means more than touching."

• Asked if the DOE could ban the use of cell phones and similar devices on campus because they cause problems, especially as video clips are posted to web sites such as You Tube, Penebacker said they are "educational instruments" and much more than just phones.

Another man said parents don't want cell phones taken away from their children.

• Most of the people at the meeting came to discuss the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program (HLIP). Rebecca Walker, president of the program's parent group, first presented Penebacker with a letter thanking the Board. "We've been around for 10 years," she read, "but various levels of inequities still exist."

For example, she asked for stepping up the hiring of a new teacher to replace the substitute who's taught the combined grade 4-6 class all school year. She also said one woman was told that enrollment in the program at Hauula Elementary was closed, and another was asked why she wanted to sign up her child.

"We currently only have three teachers and have had triple-combined classes for the past three years. As parents, we have to come back at you and push the limits," Walker said.

Albert said she would look into the concerns.

Laie kupuna and Koolauloa Neighborhood Board member Dawn Wasson echoed the inequity of funding for Hawaiian language education and "unequal school treatment. Teachers need more training and development in support of Hawaiian programs," she said.

Ka'umealani Walk, who teaches in the HLIP program at Kahuku High, agreed the program has come a long way, but emphasized the parents have to ask for help every year. "Our history here in these islands speaks for itself: 100 of our students at Kahuku are looking for a college education. I plead with the Board that is may help us close the gap."

Keali'i Haverly, another immersion program parent who lives in Hauula, asked if "school within a school" status could help the program. Albert replied she didn't think the "small school status" existed any more; and Fujie said he would look into it.

Hawaiian immersion parent Keali'i Haverly (standing,
center) asks Windward Superintendent Lea Albert
for more help with the program at Hauula.

"Hawaiian immersion has been a priority for us," Penebacker said, but added that the entire DOE is under-funded.

Leone Sa'aga, Director of Punana Leo o Koolauloa in Kahuku and a part-time teacher in Kahuku High's program, explained their Hawaiian language preschool is trying to get its own funding. "We need help," she said, and invited all of the complex principals to visit.

• Asked about testing teachers for drugs, Albert replied that all of the complex administrators will go through "suspicion testing" training this June.

• Elaine McArthur of Laie asked about the school calendar: "Many of us feel it was put forward without consensus," she said. "There have been rumors there's going to be a change."

Fujie responded that prior to Act 51 requiring the DOE to operate on one schedule, two-thirds of all public schools were on modified schedules. "We knew that no matter what schedule was selected, some people were going to be happy and some were going to be unhappy."

Asked if any single schedule savings are wiped out by the need for additional air conditioning, Albert noted that Kahuku "will be the first high school in the state to undergo heat abatement testing. We're told that will lower the temperature 10˚." By comparison, she said Campbell High which has both heat and airplane noise issues would require $11 million to air condition; and Fujie pointed out two-thirds of all DOE schools slated for capital improvements are on "budgetary hold."

• Kahuku Elementary Principal Pauline Masaniai said she was concerned with students having to take standardized tests at the beginning of the fourth quarter. "We would definitely like to teach our students for a full year before they take a high-stakes test," she said.

Penebacker replied that the issue has "come up in other places…[so] 90% of the test deals with the materials covered in the first three quarters."

"Maybe our students are missing proficiency by two or three points, so this is critical," Masaniai responded.

• Penebacker stressed that even though the master plan calls for the Kahuku School and Public Library to eventually be moved, "there are no immediate plans to relocate. It's truly a community resource, and it will not be abandoned."

He explained Kahuku Library is one of three such facilities on the island (the others are in Waimanalo and Ewa Beach), and 12 statewide. "The issue out here is it's located right in the middle of campus… There's a security issue."

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