However, at the strong urging of the state's charter schools director, the board has agreed to hold a meeting for parents and board members sometime next week to air the issues surrounding Sullivan and vote on her future at the school.

Sullivan, 56, of Waimea, was charged with kidnapping, first-degree terroristic threatening and three counts of assault for allegedly beating her son last April with a baseball bat and injuring him with a rope around his neck.

The KANAKA school situation, which comes at a time when the state's 27 charter schools are under increased scrutiny, raises significant issues, said Jim Shon, executive director of the state's charter schools program.

A draft state audit prepared for the Legislature and released this month found there is "passive" oversight of charter schools by the state Board of Education, caused in part by a poorly written charter school law.

Board of Education Chairman Breene Harimoto has said he hopes to improve oversight, and he reacted quickly to the KANAKA case. Shon said Harimoto called him and demanded "we find out what's going on."

"The board is not passive at all in these situations," Shon said. "The state Board of Education is very concerned."

A jury trial on the charges against Sullivan was scheduled this week, but she instead pleaded guilty Tuesday in 5th Circuit Court to two counts of second-degree assault, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $10,000 fine. She will be sentenced March 22.

Court documents said the boy suffered multiple bruises, marks around his neck and hands and swelling of his eye and hands. The documents said he told the doctor that a bat had been used.

Sullivan did not admit to using a bat or rope, but in a statement filed in court said: "I hit my child."

Reached at the school yesterday, Sullivan declined to comment.

KANAKA is a school with just 35 students. The youngsters are primarily the children of Ni'ihau residents who travel back and forth between Kaua'i and Ni'ihau, and the children of Kaua'i residents who are former Ni'ihau residents.

On the Hawai'i Charter Schools Network Web site, KANAKA describes itself as a "culturally based bilingual school dedicated to the preservation and promulgation of the Hawaiian language, culture, and ideologies of Niihau."

Classes met for a time in a county park, then in the Waimea Boys & Girls Club gym in Waimea, and now in rented space in the old Kekaha Sugar Co. office structure across the street from the abandoned mill.

An affiliated organization, Aupuni O Niihau, recently acquired the old Waimea Dispensary building, which will be renovated and used as the school's permanent home, said Aupuni O Niihau board chairman Keao NeSmith. NeSmith was a founder and former board member of the school, and has relatives among its students.

He said he now finds himself at odds with the school board over Sullivan.

"She's good at accounting. That's why we picked her up. But now the school protects her, a convicted felon, and nobody's saying anything about it," NeSmith said.

Shon said that a state attorney general's opinion holds that basic decision-making for charter schools — including hiring and firing — is done by charter school boards, not his office and not the state Department of Education.

But one of the problems with charter school boards is that many of them function more like advisory committees and don't have a great deal of experience overseeing complex operations such as schools, he said.

Shon called Kanahele and said he urged her to hold a meeting for the school's community to allow everyone involved to have input.

Kanahele said she already has the sense there is strong support for Sullivan. Whatever happened between the administrator and her child did not occur at the school, she said.

"I have heard from many board members and parents in support of Hedy, but we will hold a board meeting next week to balance the good and the bad ... The board will make a decision whether the positives outweigh the negatives," she said. If they do, her recommendation will be to keep Sullivan, she said.

"This is nothing to do with her job. This is a personal thing," Kanahele said in The Garden Island newspaper yesterday.

Shon said the school could face significant disruption if Sullivan is forced out.

All charter schools, because of tight finances, suffer from lack of depth at administrative positions. For the smallest charter school it may be a particular problem. NeSmith said Sullivan is the lone person doing administrative work. KANAKA has no vice principal.

Shon said he suggested to Kanahele that the school needs to begin considering what might happen if, for instance, Sullivan were put in jail for the assault case or if, for some other reason, the administrator's position became vacant.

"I encouraged them to begin ... thinking about who's going to take over. If they don't have a No. 2 person in place, their options are limited," Shon said.

NeSmith agreed: "We need to start now to find qualified people."