Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
By COLIN M. STEWART
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The Hawaii Board of Education has given itself one week to issue a decision concerning the disagreement between Laupahoehoe Community Public Charter School and its state oversight panel, which has said it intends to delay the opening of the school.
The charter school was scheduled to open at the end of this July, but the state Charter School Review Panel ruled in December that it would not be allowed to launch until July 2013.
The BOE heard testimony Tuesday from charter school representatives, as well as the state’s Charter School Review Panel, in an appeal regarding their interpretations of state law covering when elections for a permanent local school board must be held for a new conversion charter school, among other issues.
Hilo attorney Brian DeLima, the Big Island’s representative on the governor-appointed BOE, said Tuesday afternoon that board members opted to render a decision at a later date following an hour of closed deliberations, due to the complicated nature of the issue and the specific wording that would be required in their ruling.
“It needs to be drafted, there needs to be finding of fact, and finding of conclusions,” he said. “It can’t be done in a short period of time. The members need a chance to review the wording.”
DeLima, who served as acting chairman during the proceedings due to the absence of Chairman Donald Horner, as well as two other members of the nine-member board, said he could not comment on the deliberations that took place after the two parties presented their testimony and addressed questions from the board.
During the testimony portion of the hearing, Laupahoehoe interim board member and Hilo attorney Steven Strauss accused the review panel of trying to revoke the school’s charter by delaying the school’s opening, according to submitted written testimony.
“By delaying the charter school’s opening by 18 months from today, the (Charter School Review Panel) thinks it found a way to revoke that charter, while trying to avoid direct oversight by the Board of Education,” he wrote. “If allowed to stand, this delay is the equivalent of revocation.”
Review panel Chairman Carl Takamura disagreed, saying that the panel’s actions thus far had been necessary to ensure a successful opening for the charter school.
“The ongoing uncertainty about the future of Laupahoehoe School has caused a great deal of anxiety and stress for the students, staff and families of the school. We believe that delaying the opening of Laupahoehoe Community PCS will provide the time for all parties to try to reach a mutually agreeable resolution to this complex situation and hopefully begin a period of healing,” he wrote in his submitted testimony.
Tuesday’s hearing was another step in a long, bumpy road for the charter school. While the conversion of Laupahoehoe’s elementary and high school was initially met with overwhelming approval in a community-wide vote, it has since come under fire from a number of faculty, staff and parent groups. People opposed to the charter school have threatened to take over its Local School Board once the elections are held in an attempt to return the charter to the state and bring themselves back under the direct control of the state Department of Education. They claim the interim board has delayed holding the elections to prevent such a tactic.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.