Parking concerns plague 'Ewa school
By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau
'EWA VILLAGES — The rapidly growing enrollment at 'Ewa Elementary School and the small parking lot on campus have led to a difficult — and some say dangerous — situation before and after school.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Todd Bardoni, an Emergency Medical Services technician who lives across from the school, said in the mornings and afternoons parked cars fill both sides of Pipeline Street and a couple of vacant lots along the side entrance to the school, creating a situation that is "an accident waiting to happen."
Cars crowd Pipeline Street near 'Ewa Elementary School while parents wait to pick up their children after classes.
"The school has grown so much that the parking is inadequate. They park everywhere to pick up their kids," Bardoni said. "It's a mess."
Bardoni said the situation becomes dangerous when cars and buses try to squeeze between the parked cars and children run through traffic to and from school.
"It's just a matter of time before someone is hurt or killed," Bardoni said. "Kids run through traffic because there is no crosswalk."
There is a crosswalk in front of the school, with crossing guards during busy hours, but none on Pipeline Street.
School principal Irene Nakamoto said many parents park near the school because they want to either have breakfast at the school with their children or walk them to class, but she acknowledges there is a problem and says she is looking for a solution.
"I am aware of the parking concerns, and we have been working on it," Nakamoto said. "We just keep growing tremendously."
Enrollment at 'Ewa Elementary has jumped from 612 students in 1998 to 815 students this year.
The enrollment is expected to grow even more as families continue to move into nearby renovated plantation homes and into homes going up on lots being developed by the Self-Help Housing Corp. of Hawai'i.
Bardoni and other residents collected a petition with more than 100 signatures, which they presented to the state Department of Education asking that something be done to mitigate the situation. Residents have suggested that an empty lot owned by the city be converted into overflow parking for the school.
Nakamoto said the number of parking spaces at the school meets state guidelines, but she has been in contact with the city about using the lot.
Randy Wong, with the city Department of Community Services, said the city does own the lot, but last year published a request for proposals to develop the site and is negotiating with a nonprofit group.
"We are working with a potential developer right now," Wong said. "That developer has indicated they are willing to discuss the school's problems."
Wong said no final plan has been accepted for the site.
"We will see whether the school and this potential nonprofit developer can work something out to benefit the community," Wong said.
With the school year ending June 7, the parking situation will soon be eased, Nakamoto said. Classes begin for the next session July 26, and she is not sure whether relief can be found by that time.
"We are not ignoring the problem. We are trying to find a solution," Nakamoto said. "It just takes a long time."
