Posted on: Thursday, October 21, 2004

Graffiti threats keep many Lahaina students at home

Advertiser Staff

LAHAINA, Maui — Absenteeism at three Lahaina schools was high yesterday after the discovery of threatening graffiti at Lahainaluna High School. The Department of Education informed parents of the threats and said students who stayed home this week from any of the four public schools in Lahaina would not be penalized.

Officials said the graffiti was written on walls in permanent marker sometime between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Oct. 8 in three boys' bathrooms. The messages warned that some sort of incident would take place yesterday. Officials are not releasing the specific wording of the graffiti, saying only that it was "disturbing."

Seven hundred of the high school's 1,050 students stayed home yesterday, including 60 of 98 boarders. Thirteen police officers were assigned to the campus for the day, said Principal Michael Nakano.

Nakano said officials suspect the graffiti was a prank, "but we're taking this seriously because we're talking about the safety of our kids and staff."

Ron Okamura, superintendent for the Lahaina school complex, said attendance also was down yesterday at Lahaina Intermediate and Princess Nahienaena Elementary, which are near the high school. Kamehameha III Elementary School in Lahaina town did not see an unusual drop in attendance, he said.

Anyone with information on the vandalism should call police officer Garret Tihada at (808) 662-4000 or Crime Stoppers at (808) 242-6966. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous.