Charter lawsuit dismissed

By COLIN M. STEWART

Tribune-Herald Staff Writer

Third Circuit Court Judge Glenn Hara dismissed on Wednesday an appeal seeking to halt the conversion of Laupahoehoe High and Elementary to a charter school.

The suit, filed by school teachers Robert Beekman and Andrea Wilson, in conjunction with the Hawaii State Teachers Association, sought to reverse a Jan. 24 decision by the state Board of Education that cleared the way for the school to open this August as Laupahoehoe Community Public Charter School.

Hara found that the HSTA and the teachers had no standing to file an appeal, as they were not direct parties in the BOE decision, said Laupahoehoe Interim Local School Board member and Hilo attorney Steve Strauss.

“These are not stakeholders,” Strauss said of the petitioners. “These are not people who would be deprived of their rights of school board elections. … They’re entitled to a vote once the elections are held, but not in advance to the exclusion of parents and other stakeholders. … It made no sense, and the judge dismissed it.”

The teachers had filed the civil suit claiming that the BOE’s decision to allow the school to hold off on holding elections to the Local School Board until the beginning of the school year was in violation of constitutional and statutory provisions and was “arbitrary or capricious, characterized by abuse of discretion or was a clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion.”

In response to Hara’s ruling, Beekman said Friday that he was not surprised by the judge’s decision, and he was relieved to have it out of the way, adding that he and other teachers at the school were willing to continue their fight to stop the charter school from launching.

Next, he said, he would like to challenge the constitutionality of the state’s charter school law.

“How it’s structured, it violates individuals’ rights to due process,” he said.

Whether the state teachers’ union will agree to bankroll further legal challenges, however, remains to be seen.

“We very much appreciated that the HSTA came forward, and said they would fund our legal battle on this issue. Whether that will carry over into an appeal or into federal court, I don’t know,” Beekman said. “I’ll leave that to their board of directors.”

The teacher, who also serves as the school’s HSTA representative, said his primary motivation continues to be the best interests of the students.

“I’m urging parents to try to make the best decision they can for educating their children,” he said.

Meanwhile, the charter school’s interim board is continuing with its preparations for an August launch for the school. A school press release stated that “an increasing number of parents of prospective students from across the island have already contacted Loida Navalta, administrative consultant for the Charter School.”

The release added that charter school organizers anticipate an increase in enrollment over the current year. Opponents of the school have claimed that many parents, teachers and students plan to desert the school, which would leave it in difficult financial circumstances.

Strauss said those claims are turning out to be false.

“We should see at least as much enrollment as this year, if not greater,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of interest since David Rizor was identified as the incoming director of operations. … He was part of the original charter movement on the island.”

More information about the school is available at www.laupahoehoecharterschool.com. Interim board meetings are held on the second Tuesday each month at 6 p.m.