Posted on: Thursday, June 10, 2004

Schools to get $530,000 for repairs

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

The latest round of grants awarded by the Hawai'i 3R's program will put $530,000 into the hands of nearly two dozen schools for projects that range from the painting and retiling of classrooms to repairs of termite damage.

Hawai'i 3R's — Repair, Remodel and Restore — awards grants to help schools do the work themselves, aided by volunteers, in light of the $560 million repair backlog facing the state Department of Education.

Recipients of the most recent awards are 'Aiea Elementary School, Farrington High School, Kaimuki High School, Kahuku High School, Kainalu Elementary, Kea'au Middle School on the Big Island, Kipapa Elementary, Lahainaluna High School on Maui, Lanikai Elementary, Lehua Elementary, Leilehua High School, Makakilo Elementary, Manoa Elementary, Maui Waena Elementary on Maui, Miliani Uka, Mililani Waena, Solomon Elementary, Waiakea High School on the Big Island, Waialua Elementary and Waimea Elementary on the Big Island.

Since it began almost three years ago, the program has financed 101 projects in 67 schools.

Awards are made four times a year, said Gabriel Ishida, Hawai'i 3R's executive assistant. The program is financed through federal and state grants, foundations and corporate donations.

Farrington High School has received its second Hawai'i 3R's grant, said Arnie Kikkawa, a vice principal at the school.

This summer, the school will use its $50,000 grant to replace missing tiles on walls, repaint peeling walls and replace aging fixtures in the girls locker room, which is 60 years old. Work will begin next weekend, Kikkawa said.

"The girls are using a locker room that is not in good condition," Kikkawa said. "Our entire athletic complex is in bad shape."

With a combination of volunteers from the school community and assistance from New Hope, a church that regularly uses the school's auditorium and gymnasium for services, Kikkawa hopes to finish the project before the next school year begins.

The school also will apply for another grant, having estimated it would take $120,000 to renovate the entire locker room.

At 'Aiea Elementary, the school will install a new sprinkler system to cut down on the dust that sweeps into classrooms on windy days. The school's project will be done jointly with the community and The Gas Company.

At Lahainaluna High School on Maui, Young Brothers Ltd. partnered with Hawai'i 3R's to pay for the shipping of 270 boxes of tile to redo the floors of the David Malo dorms, which were last retiled in 1959.

Begun by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i, the program works with state agencies, trade unions, businesses, military, community leaders, parents, teachers, and students to match state, federal and private money with volunteerism — sweat equity, both skilled and unskilled — to reduce the backlog and at a significantly lower cost.

"Renovations take a multi-fund to attack to get the work done," Kikkawa said. "We do put in our project needs with the state, but that takes time. This is one way for us to take charge and get funding. It's a small portion of our long list.

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