School budget cuts put renovations on hold
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
Just as the state was making major strides in fixing everything from old carpets to leaky roofs at run-down public school campuses, the state budget crisis is slamming the door, leaving dozens of other schools without needed repairs and renovations.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
In the months since the Legislature drastically reduced money for school projects, what has emerged is a picture of just how much the state was able to accomplish with a two-year infusion of $245 million for backlogged repairs, and just how quickly that progress can evaporate.
Joylyn Kong, a maintenance worker at Koko Head Elementary School, examines a badly peeling section of one of the school's walls. Dozens of schools in need of repairs will have to wait because of the state budget crisis.
In the face of an economic crisis and budget cuts, lawmakers this year devoted just $35 million to fixing problems at the schools.
For next year they've allotted $7 million.
The result is that 42 Hawai'i public schools that expected classroom renovations within the next year or two have been dropped from the repair list. Other types of repair and maintenance work also have been put on hold, with officials saying they don't have enough money to go much beyond the necessary health and safety fixes.
Schools that did not make it into the first few rounds of renovation while the money was flowing have suddenly found themselves on the outside of a policy push that has spruced up dozens of other campuses in the past two years.
Koko Head Elementary in East Honolulu was supposed to get $1.3 million worth of renovation and repair, but the work has been canceled because of state budget cuts.
Like many Hawai'i public-school campuses, Koko Head is old.
Restrooms have leaky sinks, water drips from the roof, drawers in classroom storage cabinets don't open, the louver mechanisms on windows can't be operated without screwdrivers and paint is faded and peeling. Repeatedly the custodians re-stretch the carpet in the library so it doesn't buckle and cause children to trip.
But fixes for all of that will have to wait.
Kailua's Keolu Elementary School was set for work that would have taken care of termite-eaten doors and other problems. But Principal Ronn Nozoe received a memo canceling the work, with no word when it might be rescheduled.
"Safety-wise we're OK," Nozoe said. "Everything is where it needs to be, but we were all set to get a real face-lift."
At Anuenue School, Principal Charles Naumu is philosophical about the $864,000 in work on his campus being bumped from the list. "It's a matter of patience and persistence," he said.
Hickam Elementary School Vice Principal Faye Furukawa said her 50-year-old campus has extensive termite damage in the ceiling and roofs, needs a paint job, tile replacement, new lighting fixtures and windows. The school also got wait-listed until more money comes through from the Legislature.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
"We got excited about the possibility of upcoming renovations, but we are still crossing our fingers for next year," Furukawa said.
Leon Riel Jr., of Jade Decorating, paints classrooms at Ma'ili Elementary School. The school has undergone extensive renovations, but the students' only yard is worn down and in need of an irrigation system.
Cecilia Lum, Koko Head Elementary principal, said her 48-year-old school is finally getting modern electrical and computer wiring this summer, even though other repairs won't be done.
"We've needed this for a long time," Lum said. "I have roofing issues, sinks that have rotted from not being replaced or repaired. Things rust from the salt air. Some of the repair issues pose a health and safety risk because windows and doors don't open or shut right."
The $42 million allocated by the state for the next two years brings Hawai'i back into line with what has typically been spent on the upkeep of schools. Between 1991 and 2000, spending hovered in the
$30 million to $35 million range annually — dipping as low as $10 million in 2000 and causing the backlog to soar to nearly $1 billion.
Then after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lawmakers used construction dollars as a way to try to stimulate the economy. About $245 million was dedicated to school repair projects over two years.
A major goal was to start repairing the 232 public schools more than 25 years old or older. Dozens have gone through renovation.
"We reduced the amount of school renovation work so much," said Russ Saito, comptroller at the Department of Accounting and General Services, which handles school facilities work. "Really if you look at it, by the end of last month we would have been two years into the program. If we had continued to spend at the same rate we would have been done in 2007."
At a pace of $120 million per year, with about $70 million per year going to classroom renovation, the entire repair and maintenance backlog would have been whittled to $20 million by the end of the 2006 fiscal year, basically reducing the backlog only to projects that would have recently cropped up, according to DAGS estimates.
Although the Legislature has decreased the repair and maintenance money for the 2003-2005 biennium, Saito said there is always a chance that lawmakers could restore some money for the second half of the biennium budget.
"It is very challenging. There is only so much to go around," Saito said. "The principals rightly should be watching to see how much gets put back in."
He'eia Elementary School in Kane'ohe is now under renovation, feeling lucky that it was able to get the work done when so many other schools were canceled, said Susan Young, school principal.
"We're one of the fortunate schools," she said.
The state is spending more than $1 million to redo classrooms, replace blackboards, fix broken or termite-damaged doors and cabinets, repaint the entire outside of the buildings and redo the office. Restrooms will also be refurbished.
Niu Valley Intermediate School would have a laundry list of repairs and maintenance had it not been selected last year for its $1.5 million campuswide renovation, said Ann Paulino, principal. Blackboards were replaced with new whiteboards, termite-eaten cabinets were replaced, the bathrooms were upgraded and the entire school was repainted, Paulino said.
Work at Ka'u High School and Pahala Elementary, with about 470 students in grades K-12, will begin in September, said Principal Clayton Chun. "We've been waiting for a long time, so we're happy," he said.
The campus was built in the 1930s and is in the process of being designated a historic site, but its wooden buildings are deteriorating, Chun said. "The termites are slowly eating away the old buildings," he said. In the meantime, the custodians are doing a good job keeping up on repairs and maintenance.
"The overall condition is old but well-kept. It's a nice campus," Chun said.
Educators and officials with DAGS plan to push for more school repair and maintenance money during the 2004 legislative session.
But even at schools that have had extensive work, more is needed.
Students at Ma'ili Elementary School for years dealt with sweltering, 100-degree classrooms and swarms of black flies. The 40-year-old buildings were in desperate need of new doors, walls, windows and floors.
But a grassroots campaign last year led to a $3.6 million air-conditioning system in all seven buildings on campus. And this summer those buildings are getting a multimillion-dollar renovation, which includes new light fixtures and the addition of white boards in the classrooms.
But there's still one thing the school needs: a yard.
The school's 825 students have just an open field to run around during recess, often playing kickball or mastering the hula hoop. But the grassy areas have worn down with use, and the school wants help with maintaining the lawn. And it may be as simple as installing an irrigation system.
"The kids make do without," Principal Linda Victor said.
Custodians have tried to plant shrubs and trees, often donated by parents, but vandals keep stealing them, she said.
"We get so frustrated," Victor said. "It would lend a lot for (the students') self-esteem, that they're in a nice, clean place ... It feels good to be in a nice school."
Staff writers Jan TenBruggencate, Kevin Dayton, Suzanne Roig, Catherine E. Toth, James Gonser, Eloise Aguiar and Timothy Hurley contributed to this report. Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
