honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 3:52 p.m., Saturday, November 24, 2007

Building high school top priority for Kihei

By MELISSA TANJI
The Maui News

KIHEI — Although the Kihei community is pleased that plans are moving along for a new Kihei high school, some are disappointed with the site the state Department of Education selected, The Maui News reported.

"It wasn't what the community wanted," said state Rep. Joe Bertram III, who represents the South Maui District.

Although the site that the community favored wasn't chosen, he said, "it's more important we move this quickly as much as we can."

Kihei Community Association President David Frazier said association members are pleased to see plans for the high school moving along, but they are "disappointed" that a preferred site across Pi'ilani Highway from Kamali'i Elementary School was not selected.

On Monday, state education officials announced the long-awaited high school will be built on a parcel north of the Elleair Golf Course and mauka of the intersection of Kulanihakoi Street and Pi'ilani Highway. The site involves land owned by Haleakala and Kaonoulu ranches, both of which have indicated an interest in selling property for the new school. A price has not been determined.

The Kulanihakoi site was among three under review. The others were the county-owned land and a site near the Maui Meadows subdivision offered by owner Gensiro Kawamoto.

With site selection completed, public school officials hope a new high school will open for the 2011-12 school year.

At a meeting in June, Frazier said, the KCA voted overwhelmingly for the site near Kamali'i Elementary School noting that a proposed Kihei Police Station might be built nearby and members wanted the south Maui schools located together. He said association members felt there would be less traffic congestion at the site near Kamali'i compared to the state's chosen site.

At a KCA meeting on Tuesday, Frazier said he took an informal poll and by a show of hands, a majority of members again voted for the site near Kamali'i with a couple voting for the Kulanihakoi site.

One resident in support of the Kulanihakoi site is Gene Zarro, who said it was also a preferred site for the Kihei Charter High School.

"I actually think it's the best site that could have been picked because in my opinion, it's where the majority of the students actually live," said Zarro, who was instrumental in setting up the charter school and has been pressing for the state to provide a Kihei high school for more than 10 years

Zarro, who is president of the Kihei Charter High School board, said he liked the topography of the Kulanihakoi site.

"It's sort of flat," he said.

It will be near the proposed alignment of a Kihei to Upcountry highway that could be used to provide another access to the high school site. If there had not been last-minute rule changes by the Department of Education, Zarro said, the charter school would have been developed on the Kulanihakoi site.

State Sen. Roz Baker, whose 5th District includes South Maui, said she thought both the county-owned site and the Kulanihakoi site were appropriate. In discussions with the DOE, she said she understood the Kulanihakoi site might be more centrally located to the population it will serve, as well as be easier to develop.

"I'm hoping the community will sort of recognize the criteria the state needs to use with their site selection, taking in all the comments folks made ... they will rally around this so we can get it fast tracked and move it forward," she said.

Criteria for a high school site included proximity to existing developed areas, site topography, vehicle and pedestrian access, availability of utility infrastructure, safety and climate.

Baker said she also hopes the school can be completed before the projected 2011 completion date. The DOE is working on "double tracks" on both the site selection and education specifications for the school to make the project move faster, she said.

"They are very aware how important this is to the community," she said.

Both Baker and Bertram said they will do all they can to be sure funding to build the high school will be provided, saying the school plans will benefit from legislation passed last session. Funds for a new school can come out of the state General Fund rather than the DOE building and maintenance funds, Bertram said.

He said he also is in touch with developer Everett Dowling who was proposing to build a new high school in a partnership with the DOE as he had with Kamalii Elementary. Dowling was discussing development on the county site near Kamalii.

Responding to an inquiry by e-mail on Tuesday, Dowling said he was glad that the DOE had selected a site and he hadn't yet spoken to the DOE about developing the school.

"We will do whatever we can to support the DOE's efforts to get the school constructed as soon as possible," Dowling said.

Maui District Board of Education Member Mary Cochran said the school can't be built fast enough.

For more Maui news, visit The Maui News.