Volunteers help reduce backlog of school repairs

By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

For a year now, hundreds of volunteers have been chipping away quietly at the $640 million backlog of repair and maintenance work at Hawai'i's public schools.

In advance of tomorrow's 3Rs project at Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary, professional painter Michael Remigio prepares a wall for follow-up work by volunteers. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Though the amount is tiny compared to the overall work still to be done, everyone is appreciative that a total of 26 schools are already benefiting.

The program will mark its one-year anniversary tomorrow at Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary School, where civic leaders will come together with an estimated 250 volunteers — most of them from the military — to paint the entire exterior of the school.

The specialty of the 3Rs program has been to take on the things that need to get done but fall below the state's radar because they aren't critical to health and safety. The program uses a combination of state and federal money.

"We're trying to get to the stuff that's not going to be done in the next five years," said Ann-Maile Yamasaki, director of Hawai'i 3Rs.

After learning of the magnitude of Hawai'i's school maintenance problem, U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye proposed the Hawai'i 3Rs initiative in 2000. The Hawai'i Democrat said it was time for everyone to get involved in meeting the needs of the state's schools.

Volunteers do most of the work, with the cost of the repair materials paid through grants from the 3Rs program, not to exceed $50,000 per grant.

Typical projects involve painting, electrical upgrades or plumbing repairs. A committee evaluates the projects and coordinates efforts with the state to make sure projects don't overlap with what the Department of Accounting and General Services already has planned for a campus.

Yamasaki views the program as just a small way to help reduce the school repair backlog, which soared out of control in the 1990s. Reduced maintenance allocations from the Legislature during the decade's economic downturn were aggravated by aging school facilities that became increasingly in need of major repairs.

The general practice had been for repairs to address only the most critical, health-threatening conditions or, so facilities could be kept operating, only the projects where ongoing classroom activity would be minimal.

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

For example, contributions and volunteer labor on a painting project at Wai'anae Intermediate last year saved $147,000. The state spent $25,000 to paint classrooms, the choir room and locker rooms.

Carole Freehan has been principal at Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary for 11 years. She's not sure when school's exterior was last repainted — but it certainly wasn't during her tenure.

"It's been on our list for a long time, but it's been bumped because it's not as critical as some of the other projects," Freehan said.

For tomorrow's project, the school have had professionals do preparation work on the building so all the volunteers will have some work to do.

"I'm overwhelmed with the support the school received," she said. "This is beyond what we originally anticipated."

The public schools have also seen something of a reversal of fortune for facilities. The Legislature approved $120 million for repair and maintenance needs this year. Officials say the money offers hope for the first time that the massive repair backlog can perhaps be wiped out eventually, with all schools brought to an acceptable condition.

Typical state spending on repairs at schools has been about $35 million annually for the past several years, dipping as low as $10 million in 2000.

But in an emergency session last fall, legislators approved an additional $75 million in classroom renovation work outside the regular state budget. Renovations from that effort are under way or in the planning stages at 40 campuses.

For many schools, 3Rs has been a beacon of hope until the state can come around to do the major repairs.

Kapunahala Elementary School in Kane'ohe rallied 150 volunteers Saturday to help paint the school and solve a drainage problem between two buildings. Windward showers had often caused the kindergarten rooms to flood.

"Between that and the mosquitoes, it wasn't very healthy," Principal Karen Segawa said.

But parents, businesses and church and community groups turned out to help.

Rep. Ken Ito, D-48th (Kane'ohe), and U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink, D-Hawai'i, offered their services. But did the school put them to work?

"Are you kidding?" Segawa said. "Of course."

Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller @honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.