Some 112 public school children who are deaf or hard of hearing got to tell "Deaf Santa" what they want for Christmas at a holiday celebration yesterday at Pearlridge Center. But absent from the crowd were about 20 of their Neighbor Island buddies, whose school districts couldn't afford the flights to O'ahu this year.

To accommodate children who couldn't come, organizers tried to link up Santa to Neighbor Island classrooms by video conference. Only one classroom was able to connect; the other three didn't because of technical difficulties or because they were busy catching up on other schoolwork.

For some students, not being able to make it to the annual deaf Santa gathering was a big disappointment.

In the past, schools paid for about 20 Neighbor Island children and their teachers to attend the celebration because it was seen not just as a party, but as a rare chance for a large group of deaf and hard-of-hearing kids to interact and realize they're not alone, even though their numbers may be small at their own schools.

"For these kids, this is the one major get-together," said Doreen Higa, a state Department of Education speech-language pathologist and organizer of what is commonly referred to as the Deaf Santa program. "Culturally, it's critical."

Higa said it wasn't a big surprise when she found out that Neighbor Island school districts grappling with a worsening budget crunch wouldn't be covering round-trip flights this year for kids and their teachers to get to Pearlridge. The DOE didn't have a figure for how much those past flights cost it.

Higa added that people have been asking organizers for years why the deaf students are flown to O'ahu, rather than deaf Santa being flown to the Neighbor Islands. She said that would miss the point.

"Then, all it becomes is, oh, Santa came to town," she said. "It doesn't bring that entire community together," giving deaf and hard-of-hearing children around the Islands an opportunity for "deaf culture education."

VIDEO VISIT

The video connection yesterday, while novel, wasn't as good as the real thing.

Deaf Santa said he was glad to be able to connect with the kids in some way, but added that he missed being able to take pictures with them or sit them on his lap. "It was still OK," he said, through an interpreter.

He said deaf and hard-of-hearing children get a lot out of seeing a Santa who speaks American Sign Language, just like them.

"I always love the deaf children and showing them deaf Santa, because hearing Santa doesn't sign," he signed, laughing. "I love being Santa. (The kids) get really excited" when they see him.

The one school that did connect by video conference — Kea'au Elementary School on the Big Island — had five rambunctious 6- to 8-year-olds who went nuts when deaf Santa was brought up on the screen. They each got a turn to give their Christmas requests to Santa, and he read their Christmas wish lists, which had been faxed to him in advance.

"They were so thrilled to see him," said Kea'au Elementary teacher Susy Rivera.

She added, "Santa was a bit choppy (on the video feed). There were some glitches."

This is the 18th year of the deaf Santa gathering, which in addition to sit-downs with Santa includes performances by deaf children and lunch. Most kids were ecstatic to be able to sign with Santa, and some jumped up and down in front of him, signing animatedly and laughing.

"I was a good boy," declared Noah Candelario, 6, from 'Aikahi Elementary School, after telling Santa he wants an "artboard with paint."

Julius Chun, 4, signed "I love you" to Santa.

And Julius was so thrilled to meet him that he forgot to ask for a present.

His mother, Joy Chun, said the day was a chance for Julius to be around others who sign.

"It's a real nice opportunity for the deaf community," she said.

The gathering included kids from preschool to about 12 years old.

STREAMED ONLINE

Neighbor Island kids found out in November that they wouldn't be coming to the event.

Higa said rather than doing nothing for Neighbor Island students, organizers decided on the video link. The video conference plan had a few kinks. At least one school couldn't connect. Others didn't have the right equipment or couldn't find it, and one said it couldn't participate because of time constraints.

Higa said that because the video conferencing required special equipment, the celebrations at Pearlridge Center — including performances by deaf children — were live-streamed on the Internet yesterday so deaf or hard-of-hearing children could watch online, even if they couldn't sign with deaf Santa directly.

Higa said several Hawai'i schools did tune in to the livestream, along with some other schools across the Pacific.

Organizers said the video link with deaf Santa will probably be around next year, since the economic downturn is likely to still be affecting state budgets. They hope to improve the video connection.

One Maui school said the travel cuts are spurring it to have its own celebration.

Pomaika'i Elementary School on Maui took about six children to see deaf Santa last year, and teacher Lisa Silva said the children were pretty bummed when they learned they wouldn't be going back again this year. She added that the school didn't link up to the video conference because there was too much schoolwork to catch up with because of furlough Fridays, when public schools are shut down.

So organizers there decided to have a deaf Santa celebration at Queen Ka'ahumanu Shopping Center.

Silva said the Santa there may not be deaf, but there will be interpreters there for the kids.

"We're trying to make the best of it," said Silva, who has 14 children in her classroom.