honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

MAKEOVER
72-year-old Farrington High all set for extreme makeover

By Mary Vorsino
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Farrington Principal Catherine Payne

spacer spacer

Community members, teachers, parents and policymakers gathered at Farrington High School last night for a sneak peek at the extreme makeover the school is set to get under a model that could spread to other campuses.

"Our students deserve modern facilities and equity requires that we provide them," Farrington Principal Catherine Payne told about 200 people gathered at the school's auditorium. "We have machines we can't plug in and brownouts in our computer labs."

The pilot project at Farrington, which could cost upwards of $40 million, will address not only needed repairs at the 72-year-old campus, but how to incorporate 21st century learning techniques at the school.

Once finished, perhaps in as little as five years, the planned floor-to-ceiling renovation could transform Farrington — one of the oldest and largest public high schools in the Islands — into a state-of-the-art campus and pave the way for addressing inadequate facilities at dozens of aging public schools.

Many Farrington parents are excited about the plan, though details on what exactly will be done at the school are still sparse. Nick Nichols, facilities planner for the state Department of Education, said a San Francisco-based firm will do a study of the school to determine what needs to be torn out or repaired, and what can be kept.

A key part of the plan is to retain the historic feel of Farrington.

The study will be completed as early as the fall — in time to put together a funding request for the 2009 state Legislature. The renovation of facilities will be completed while administrators are also coming up with a strategic plan.

Nichols said Farrington was chosen because of its size and range of problems.

"If you can do a successful pilot here, then we could address any school," he said last night.

Gov. Linda Lingle, who attended the one-hour information meeting, told parents and students they are on "the brink of a true transformation, and you're fortunate because ... people are taking notice of what you're doing."

Lingle said the model being used at Farrington will be replicated.

"That model is taking what you have ... to help make these changes," she said.

Many parents said they were happy to see Farrington finally getting some attention. They also said the school has a lot of good things to offer. "I was surprised to see all the good things about Farrington," said parent Johanna Alimaza, whose daughter is a freshman at Farrington. "But it is an old school."

Kevin Serdenia, a graduate of Farrington, said the Kalihi school has a bad reputation and he hopes the project will address those perceptions. "I'd also like to see more parents getting involved," he said. His daughter is a senior at Farrington.

Myron Monte, principal of Dole Middle School, whose students feed into Farrington, said it's time for "the community to galvanize to make this happen."

He added, "Kalihi kids really excel when given the environment ... to learn."

Officials say the Farrington plan represents an innovative approach to improving school facilities and addressing a statewide backlog of repairs and maintenance. The pilot comes as the state is zeroing in on years of neglected repairs at schools statewide. In the 1990s the backlog at schools reached nearly $1 billion.

The total is now around $500 million.

At Farrington High School alone, there are more than 80 backlogged repair projects, totaling more than $34 million. Those projects include $12 million for work on the athletic complex and to demolish a pool that was shut down years ago, and $10 million to air-condition several classrooms, where many teachers wear microphones to talk to their students over the drone of the H-1 Freeway.

Officials concede the school renovation model would add tens of millions of dollars to annual DOE budgets for decades to come — at a time when lawmakers are warning of increased fiscal demands and dwindling revenues. But they also add the project is meant to think globally, rather than address a host of small repairs.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.