Ho'ala's move to new site delayed
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer
WAHIAWA — April Casey, an 11th-grader at Ho'ala School, a small nonsectarian private school, hopes she can attend her final year of high school at Ho'ala's new campus at the end of Lehua Street.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
"It's kind of exciting, knowing the school has been talking about its own campus for years," said Casey, who has been at Ho'ala since first grade.
The new Ho'ala School building in Wahiawa remains vacant as officials work to resolve water access problems.
But there's a problem: The new 2.2-acre campus still has no access to a
fire hydrant waterline, possibly delaying the move to the site this fall.
"Right now, we're about 450 feet away from our goal," said school principal Nancy Barry, talking about the distance to attach a water main to the nearest hydrant on Lehua Street that will cost them nearly $300,000.
Barry said the school's cash reserves are depleted, with more than $1.2 million poured into land acquisition and construction of the new campus, money raised over the years through such fund-raisers as cookie and Christmas tree sales.
Once the waterline is installed, the school would still need to find a way to boost low water pressure from the city waterline to the campus.
Because the campus does not meet the city fire code, city officials said they will not issue the permits required to complete and occupy the 3,800-square-foot Madden Hall, named after Joan Madden, who founded the school in 1986.
The situation poses a financial strain for the tiny school as it operates campuses at Wahiawa Hongwanji Mission and Wahiawa YMCA for grades K-12 while building the new campus and now looks for money to get the waterline done.
But Barry said the school of 125 students will not shut down because of the financial crunch.
"We'll continue to be here in Wahiawa," she said. "We'll teach from our current campuses, but we would like to have this new campus up and running by summer if possible," she said.
Barry said the school is looking into whether it can qualify for grants that deal with campus capital needs.
The school is also looking into whether the hydrant line can be installed from the rear of the campus to a 12-inch water main along Kamehameha Highway. Which brings up another problem: "Nobody knows who owns the waterline," Barry said. "If anyone knows, it could help our situation."
Anyone wishing to help the school can call Ho'ala at 621-1898.
Reach Scott Ishikawa at sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
