By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward Bureau
KAILUA — Stan Lum bid aloha to Le Jardin Academy last week. He had completed a mission to raise $12 million in five years, helping the school go from rented church space to a 24-acre campus high above Quarry Road. The school offers a panoramic view of the Ko‘olau Range, Maunawili Valley and Mount Olomana.
He’s leaving over a disagreement on strategy, at a time when the school is about to embark on a new campaign and begin building its high school.
Lum said he would have preferred to finish up the loose ends of the present construction, then take a breather before gearing up for another campaign to raise enough money to build a new high school.
Le Jardin headmaster Adrian Allan said that with momentum still strong after reaching its first goal, the school must forge ahead. Allan favors the construction of a 12-classroom building for the private school’s first high school students before full construction of a complete high school.
"If we stall it a couple of years, who knows what the economy will do in two years time, or what the climate will be in two years?" Allan said. "We want to show a successful high school on this side of the island before we go out to build a new high school."
Lum said the school’s goal has always been to offer high school, "but in fund raising you cannot go from one campaign and jump into the next — that’s suicidal."
Lum, who was with Le Jardin for five years, said he has been approached by other schools.
Cindy Golden, a parent to two students at Le Jardin, said that while many people helped with the fund raising, Lum was instrumental in raising the $12 million for the school. He was especially loved by the children and appreciated by the parents, Golden said.
On his last day a school assembly honored him, she said. The children surrounded him and hugged him, some crying. He had maile leis up to his nose, and he was crying, too, Golden said.
"Stan was more than just a project coordinator," Golden said. "He really cared about the children and he had an aloha that was really refreshing on the campus."
Lum, 52, said he enjoyed the ride. When the campaign problems seemed insurmountable, he took comfort in knowing that the children would benefit from his efforts, he said.
"The driving force for me was that we’re doing this all for the sake of the kids," Lum said. "That’s what sustained the drive and the effort through all the blood, sweat and tears."
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