While the temporary campus for the burned King Kamehameha III Elementary is set to be completed by the end of February 2024, the Hawaiian immersion community in Lahaina is asking the state education department if it would accommodate them as well.
Several people at Hawaiian language immersion, or Kaiapuni, schools voiced their frustrations at a Thursday Board of Education meeting, citing concerns over evacuation plans, online learning, and not being heard by the Hawaiʻi Department of Education.
Liko Rogers, a Hawaiian language immersion teacher at Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary School in Lahaina, is one of dozens of Kaiapuni families impacted by the Aug. 8 wildfire.
"We're asking the board for help in finding a solution to our immediate need as we have been shut down by the DOE at every attempt to create the program that our ʻohana need," he said.
"Lahaina will be undergoing clean up of toxic materials for some time in the future, and our ʻohana will not be sending their keiki back to the campuses during that time."
West Maui is home to about 160 Kaiapuni students from kindergarten to high school.
Since the blaze, three Kaiapuni teachers and 45 students have enrolled on campus in Lahaina. Meanwhile, four teachers and 60 students have signed up for distance learning, according to DOE spokesperson Nanea Kalani.
But Rogers said an online setting doesn't work for Hawaiian immersion learning.
"The program is miserably failing to meet the education needs of our students and ʻohana, and it is killing our teachers, me included," he said.
West Maui's Kaiapuni programs take place at Lahainaluna High, Lahaina Intermediate and Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary.
King Kamehameha III Elementary, which the Aug. 8 inferno destroyed, did not have a Kaiapuni program.
The Pulelehua Project, which will replace the Front Street school, will be built off the Honoapi'ilani Highway between Kā‘anapali and Napili.
Superintendent Keith Hayashi said the mixed-used development would support 600 students, have 30 classrooms, an administrative building and a learning resource building — which includes a library, offices, dining room and basketball court.
He said the project's construction is set to be complete by the end of February next year. Teachers and students will then be able to move in around April.
"The requirements from FEMA that the temporary site will be designed as a replacement for that was existing at King Kamehameha III," Hayashi said.
It's still unclear if the Kaiapuni schools will be able to use the Pulelehua Project.
The education department had sent a survey to parents in Lahaina if their children are planning to return to school. Hayashi said the department will consider allowing the Kaiapuni programs at the temporary site.
