Donation will bring Koko Head school up to speed

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

HAWAI'I KAI — Koko Head Elementary is one of just two or three public schools left with outmoded computer network wiring.

In two weeks, it will lose that dubious distinction with the help of the Friends of Koko Head School, the school's School Community Based Management group, which donated $35,000 to hire a contractor who will install pipes to the classrooms that will lead to new high-speed classroom links to the Internet.

"It's taken years to raise this much money," said Carter Luke, Friends of Koko Head president. "We're at the point where we really needed to do this. We had to do it."

The school was among the first to become network-wired in the early 1990s, but it chose a now outdated form of network access called Token Ring. Schools that waited a bit jumped on the Ethernet and are up with the times, said Les Goto, state Department of Education telecom network specialist.

"At the time Koko Head chose the Token Ring cable, it was the leader in the industry," Goto said. "It's served the school well."

But of late, students and teachers find themselves being bumped off the network, said Rita Hanohano, Friends of Koko Head third vice president.

Switching to Ethernet will save the school money because it won't have to buy adapters for its computers, Goto said. Most computers today are Ethernet ready.

That's why last year the school's SCBM group decided to dedicate the lion's share of its fund-raising efforts to connecting the classrooms to the speedier, newer connection, Hanohano said. It held magazine drives and a silent auction to raise money to pay for the conduits to the classrooms.

In August, telecommunications workers will install the wires that will link the classrooms to the Internet.

The school also will undergo a state-financed $450,000 electrical power upgrade that will allow more computers in the classrooms, Goto said. That project probably won't start until late in the year.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.