Lower Puna students who were displaced in October because of the approaching June 27 lava flow will return to their home schools in the fall. ADVERTISING Lower Puna students who were displaced in October because of the approaching June 27
Lower Puna students who were displaced in October because of the approaching June 27 lava flow will return to their home schools in the fall.
“Keonepoko Elementary will welcome back students to its campus in Hawaiian Beaches,” the Department of Education announced Monday in a written statement, “and all public school students in the Keaau, Ka‘u, Pahoa complex area will start the 2015-16 school year in their geographically determined schools.”
While some families and students might not want to return to their former schools, they will have to unless they qualify for a geographic exemption, said Chad Farias, Keaau-Ka‘u-Pahoa Complex Area superintendent.
“We realize that some families whose students were reassigned to another school may not want to return to their geographically determined school,” he said. “However, those reassignments were made based on the pending lava flow. Now that the lava has been determined no longer a threat to (complex area schools), students must go back to the school they came from for their education.”
On March 25, the threat level for the lava flow was downgraded by scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory to a “watch” in response to a stalling of the flow front near Pahoa, with any major activity continuing several miles above the town. But in the fall, when the flow was active at its front, it seemed likely the lava could bisect Highway 11, cutting off most traffic into and out of lower Puna.
The school system elected to move students to facilities accessible from their families’ homes, in anticipation of the highway being crossed.
Beginning on Oct. 29, classes ended at Keonepoko Elementary, and students, faculty and staff were transitioned to the temporary Keonepoko North campus — a $3.6 million temporary campus featuring portable classrooms installed in a parking lot on the campus of Keaau High School.
About 300 Keonepoko students were sent to this new campus, as well as 150 Pahoa Elementary students.
In the days that followed, approximately 200 Pahoa High students were transferred to Keaau High, and 75 Pahoa High &Intermediate students were sent to Keaau Middle. An additional 75 Keonepoko sixth-graders and Pahoa Elementary students were sent to Keaau Middle.
Meanwhile, 20 Keonepoko preschool students were sent to Keaau Elementary, and 15 special needs students from Keonepoko and Pahoa elementaries were sent to Mountain View Elementary.
All told, about 1,700 students and 300 employees were impacted by the changes.
In an emailed response to questions, DOE Director of Communications Donalyn Dela Cruz explained Monday the decision to return to the schools came after careful consideration.
“The Department consulted with Hawaii Civil Defense before deciding to return students and staff to their originally assigned schools,” she wrote. “We’ve been assured that lava is no longer an immediate threat to the area and won’t be for several years. However, we are cognizant that lower Puna is a lava zone. Any future planning regarding other school locations will involve all stakeholders, parents and community members.”
However, “we are not at that stage of planning.”
Dela Cruz said the DOE is “currently making decisions to return to pre-lava flow contingency plans.” The DOE is weighing staffing needs and determining the correct processes “to return the maximum number of employees to their pre-lava flow schools.”
Farias said Monday it would be good to restore some normalcy for members of the community, after the lava flow placed the schools in the complex in a difficult position, as well as their students, faculty and staff.
The increased stress even had a noticeable impact on student behavior.
“We know this: When the lava started to become a threat, and the community was threatened, we did see a change in discipline numbers,” he said. “There was an increase in certain types of offenses. At one point, we were seeing a rapid change. … We were seeing an increase in unacceptable behaviors … in Pahoa we saw a couple fights out there.”
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
