EDITORIAL
We draw the line at child abuse

If a school principal were guilty of violently abusing her own child, we would demand that she step down automatically. Yet under Hawai'i law, it would be up to the school board to remove her from her post.

Or not, as is so far the case at the Kula Aupuni Niihau a Kahelani Aloha (KANAKA) charter school in Kekaha, Kaua'i.

Hedy Sullivan, KANAKA's administrator, has pleaded guilty to assaulting her 11-year-old son. She allegedly beat him last April with a baseball bat and injured him with a rope around his neck.

Despite the conviction, KANAKA's local board president, Lehua Kanahele, says Sullivan still has the support of the board: "This is nothing to do with her job. This is a personal thing."

We couldn't disagree more.

Not only does the felony assault conviction reflect badly on Sullivan and tarnish the reputation of the school, but it is wholly inappropriate to keep a convicted child abuser in charge of a school.

But, as stated above, the power to remove Sullivan lies with the charter school's local board. Even in the regular public schools system, there is nothing in the law that requires the schools chief or BOE to terminate or put on administrative leave an employee convicted of child abuse, according to Jim Shon, executive director of the state's charter schools program.

Which is troubling to say the least. Felony child abuse, whether the victim is your own child or someone else's, ought to lead to automatic removal as a safety precaution if nothing else.

A special board meeting to air concerns about the case will be held tomorrow. We understand that this school community, most of whose members are related by blood, are worried about how to replace Sullivan, and hate to turn their back on family.

But they have to draw the line somewhere. We'd say child abuse crosses that line.