By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau
KAPOLEI — The state Board of Education has asked Schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu to look into the recent redistricting of Mauka Lani and Makakilo elementary schools to make sure community concerns have been fully addressed.
At the board’s Feb. 15 meeting at Kapolei High School, about 10 people said they were unhappy with Leeward District Superintendent Hazel Sumile’s redistricting plan and asked for help, said board member Karen Knudsen.
"(The redistricting) wasn’t officially put on hold," Knudsen said. "We did ask (LeMahieu) to look at the issues the folks brought up. We said please review it and get back to us."
Knudsen said some board members had concerns because the redistricting plan moved students so far away from their current schools.
In January, Sumile announced her plan to bus Mauka Lani Elementary School students from Makakilo to Barbers Point Elementary, about six miles away. Sumile said reassignment of students from Mauka Lani was necessary because the school is already over capacity and the situation is expected to get worse.
| Public meeting
 What: The final meeting to inform residents and answer questions about the state Department of Education plan to reassign students at Mauka Lani and Makakilo elementary schools.
When: 2:15 p.m. Thursday.
Where: Barbers Point Elementary School library. |
Sumile’s plan would send students who already ride buses to school from the Westhills area of Makakilo to Barbers Point at the beginning of the school year next fall, and students from Honokai Hale the following year. In all, about 220 students would be moved.
Both Mauka Lani and Makakilo elementary schools are bursting at the seams with students. Barbers Point Elementary, on the other hand, experienced an enrollment drop when the naval air station closed in 1999, and attendance has continued to decline as Navy families have moved away.
Makakilo resident Bill Parrish, who has two daughters reassigned to Barbers Point, said at last week’s board meeting that multi-tracking should have been considered more seriously as an option.
"All you’ve got to do is retrofit the portables, add a couple more and the school is ready for multi-track. So why not?" Parrish said. "We felt like we were heard, but we really don’t know if they are going to do anything about it."
At meetings this month, many parents said building a new school was the best solution, but Sumile said there was no land set aside in the area, and no money had been appropriated for a new school.
Parents also have said they didn’t want students from one section of Makakilo alone to be bused, that the redistricting burden should be shared equally throughout the community. One plan would send all fourth- and fifth-grade students to Barbers Point, leaving the younger ones at Mauka Lani.
Knudsen said the board didn’t know whether those issues had been addressed yet, but felt it needed to have more answers.
"We could tell it was going to be very disruptive to a lot of people," Knudsen said. "It is always difficult when you are redistricting. That whole area is just growing so quickly. I know the department is doing their best, but we need to make sure that every option has been reviewed carefully."
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