Volunteers tackle school repairs

By James Gonser and Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writers

About 300 volunteers, most of them teenagers, didn't mess around yesterday when it came to spreading blue paint over three buildings at Wai'anae Intermediate School.

Volunteers from the Hawaiian National Guard Youth Challenge Academy help repaint Wai'anae Intermediate School. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

The project is paid for with a $25,000 grant from the Hawai'i 3Rs program and is part of a $1 million state effort to use volunteers, grants and tax incentives to get school repairs done quicker and save money.

Robert Villanueva, 16, one of 97 volunteers from the National Guard Youth Challenge Academy, said although he lacked experience, he was glad to help out, meet new people and make new friends. Volunteering, he said, is better than getting into trouble, which was normal for him before he joined the program.

The 3Rs project is seen as a ray of hope in an otherwise dark maintenance picture.

The state's school maintenance backlog stands at about $616 million, according to the Department of Accounting and General Services, and officials acknowledge there is little hope of budgeting enough money to catch up.

	Hawai'i's 3Rs
•	What: A state program to get school maintenance and repairs done using community volunteers
•	How to help: A fund has been established to receive contributions, grants, endowments and gifts from all sources including businesses, foundations, government or individuals.
•	For more information: Call Ann Yamasaki, executive director of the program, at 440-3876.

With need outpacing dollars three to one — the state spends an average of $22 million a year on maintenance versus an estimated $66 million in maintenance that is needed annually — repairs continue to fall further and further behind.

The general practice has been to repair only the most critical, health-threatening conditions or to tackle the least-involved projects in order to keep facilities operating, department officials say.

The Legislature this session increased the allocation to $80 million for school repairs and the University of Hawai'i over the next two years, and lawmakers say Hawai'i's public schools probably will receive a hefty infusion of money for repairs and maintenance when lawmakers meet in a special session later this month to consider Gov. Ben Cayetano's request for new construction money to cope with the state's economic crisis.

However, even generous additional money would be unlikely to approach the system's total deferred maintenance requirements.

With 3Rs, officials hope that the savings realized by using volunteers on school projects can multiply the effect of dollars invested in maintenance work.

For example, the estimated cost of the work at Wai'anae Intermediate would be about $104,000 without community volunteers, meaning the state — and taxpayers — will see a savings of about $79,000 on this project alone, said Linda Chu Takayama, one of the founders and board members of Hawai'i 3Rs.

After learning of the magnitude of the maintenance problem, U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye proposed the Hawai'i 3Rs initiative last year, Takayama said.

"He recognized there was a lot of community support for our public schools, folks wanted to help but there was really no structure to help," she said. "So Hawai'i 3Rs was conceived as a way to harness the energy and good will in the community and to give a structure for people to volunteer their time."

Inouye, (D-Hawai'i) said it was time for everyone to get involved in meeting the needs of the schools.

"When I learned of the large backlog in school repairs, I felt that the greater community needed to step forward to support quality learning environments for our children," Inouye said. "It is easy to lay blame and then look the other way, but the children are the ultimate losers. I believe it must be our collective responsibility and challenge."

Ann Yamasaki, executive director of 3Rs, said the nonprofit program will not solve the repair backlog by itself, but it can put a dent in the problem.

"If we can continue to do this type of project, we are on our way," Yamasaki said.

The 3Rs grant for Wai'anae Intermediate will pay for supplies, tools and a professional contractor for more dangerous work, which must be done on scaffolding.

Roger Takayama, a former Wai'anae Intermediate teacher who retired after 30 years, is coordinating this first 3Rs project and said the buildings are long overdue for new paint.

"We already got our volunteers from Teen Challenge, the military, church groups, parents and students," he said. "I hope that it points out that there is a great deal of care from people about what happens in schools, and perhaps that might wear off on the students as well."

Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Barbers Point, Makaha), introduced the bill last session to put 3Rs into effect and Cayetano signed it this summer.

"It's very gratifying to have it start in Wai'anae," Hanabusa said. "It really is a statement, especially in these economic times, to have everyone pull together to address the (repair and maintenance) costs."

The bill provides $500,000 a year for two years to pay for school projects organized by the schools and communities themselves. Tax credits are also available for contractors.

Several other schools have also applied to 3Rs for grants to make repairs, including Roosevelt High and Baldwin High on Maui. Typical projects involve painting, electrical upgrades, plumbing repairs and landscaping, Yamasaki said. A committee evaluates the projects and coordinates efforts with the state.

"We want to do projects that the community can be involved in," Yamasaki said. "The problems are statewide and it's pretty bad everywhere. Even though what we are doing is the small things, it is stuff kids have to face every day. It will give them pride in going to school."