Posted on: Thursday, November 15, 2001

Hilo charter school wins reprieve

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — A Big Island charter school targeted for closure by the state Department of Education won a round in court yesterday, but will have to wait at least another week to find out if it will remain in existence.

The attorney general's office filed a lawsuit in September at the request of the Department of Education seeking to shut down the Waters of Life New Century Charter School for alleged health and zoning violations and for exceeding its budget last year by $171,020.

At a hearing yesterday in Hilo Circuit Court, Judge Riki May Amano shot down the DOE on one point, ruling that the county, not the state, is responsible for enforcing zoning ordinances.

Amano continued the hearing to take up the other issues to 8:30 a.m. Nov. 21.

Meanwhile, Waters of Life, with an enrollment of 75, continues to hold classes in the Hawai'i Naniloa Hotel on Banyan Drive in Hilo.

The lawsuit has struck a raw nerve with many on the Big Island, which has 11 of the 25 DOE-sanctioned charter schools statewide. Leaders of other charter schools in Hilo and Puna attended the hearing.

Charter schools are part of the DOE and receive public financing, yet have the freedom to devise their own curriculum and budget.

Water of Life Chief Executive Officer Truitt White said yesterday the state's accounting methods are confusing at best. "Everything is accounted for. No money is missing in any way," he said.

School board secretary and parent Laurie Saarinen said the spending issue is bogus because the administrators were never given any money to spend.

All checks for services, rent and faculty salaries were cut in Honolulu, she said.