Parents criticize entrance policy at Kamehameha

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

Native Hawaiian parents are voicing anger about Kamehameha Schools admission policies after the court-ordered admission yesterday of a student who is not Native Hawaiian.

Noel Soma, foreground, and Pearl Kaiama, both 12, protest the decision to allow a non-Hawaiian student into Kamehameha Schools. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

"It got to the point where they (students who are denied entry) have no feelings whatsoever for this school," said Moniz. "He's going to be a junior this year. We all gave up. We're disgusted."

Acting chief executive officer Colleen Wong said Wednesday the admission process will be reviewed "to ensure it's the most fair and equitable process we can have."

But Kamehameha Schools did not return calls yesterday to respond to new complaints from disappointed parents.

With far more applicants than can be accommodated by the schools' few thousand spaces each year, hundreds of children are turned away annually. Many of those families question who gets in and why.

"There's a general apathy among Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians feeling they should not even try to apply to go to Kamehameha Schools because they're not going to get in," said parent Jessica Luning-Hoshino.

Over the years she has repeatedly applied for entry for her six children and one foster child, with two acceptances and a multitude of denials.

"It's almost impossible to get in," she said. "We don't want to go through that heartache again. Some family members say forget it already."

She also feels Kamehameha needs to make more of an effort to reach potential students in areas with high Native Hawaiian populations, including the Wai'anae coast and Waimanalo.

"Why aren't they building a school in a community where there's the largest population?" she said.

The schools' entrance policies have changed from the days when a lottery assured an equal chance for all. Today, competitive grading policies apply.

"Admission to Middle School is selective and, due to the large number of applicants, very competitive," according to the Kamehameha Schools Web site.

Protesters lined the route to Kamehameha Schools yesterday, angered by the admission of a non-Hawaiian student to the school. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

"The ones denied are the ones who really need the help," she said. "When the princess founded this school it was to help Hawaiian kids to be educated. So I'd like to know why do they pick 'A' students. They're not the ones who need the help."

Shannon Leong agrees. Both of his sons failed to get into the school at the seventh grade level and his oldest was so discouraged he never wanted to try again.

"I told him we can always take it later," said Leong, who is one-third Hawaiian. "And he said, 'No, I don't want to. I was embarrassed. The ones in the class laughed at those who didn't pass. I don't want to go there.' "

Kamehameha Schools has space for 4,800 students from kindergarten through 12th grade on its three campuses — the main Kapalama campus on O'ahu, the Mau'i campus in Pukalani and the Big Island campus in Kea'au. By comparison there are about 48,000 Native Hawaiian students in the public school system.

Each year there are 176 new spaces available for seventh grade on Kamehameha's Kapalama campus, the grade that Brayden Mohica-Cummings entered yesterday.

Admission to Kamehameha is divided according to district quotas and students compete for admission with others from their district. Families have even moved from island to island — or sent children to live with relatives — to apply from a seemingly more equitable location.

District quotas are based on the number of Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian children living in that district, using numbers from the state Department of Education, which reports an annual ethnic breakdown of students in every DOE school.

On O'ahu, 38 percent of the spaces go to the Leeward district, 26 percent to the Windward district, 20 percent to the Honolulu district and 16 percent to the Central district. Neighbor Island applicants compete for boarding spaces also according to quotas for each island, with 47 percent going to students from West Hawai'i, 37 percent going to those from Kaua'i and Ni'hau and 16 percent to those from Moloka'i, Lana'i and Hana.

According to Luning-Hoshino, it's in the initial application for entry that students are required to list the blood quantum levels of their Hawaiian grandparents — including all of the various races in their lineage.

But the actual birth certificates do not have to be provided to the school until a child has passed the first hurdles in the application process, including the standardized testing for math and reading comprehension.

Admission to the schools depends on the lineage of biological parents, and not on adoptive or hanai parents. As a result, adopted or hanai children are required to provide birth certificates of their biological parents or ancestors as far back as necessary to prove their Native Hawaiian descent.

In some instances they must petition Family Court to open up closed files to get the necessary documentation, Wong said Wednesday.

The school said it was not aware until July 8 that Mohica-Cummings' mother was adopted. The application deadline is Oct. 15 of the previous year.

After completed applications are submitted to the admissions office, the schools' Ho'oulu Hawaiian Data Center mails the applicant a separate "Ethnic Ancestry Verification" packet requesting documents that are then verified by the center.

Wong said it's possible students have attended the school under false documentation in the past, but the school was unaware of any who had.

"One of our expectations is that the information people give us can be relied upon" she said, "so we will continue to follow that principle."

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.