A longstanding, Hilo-based Hawaiian immersion public charter school is vacating Keaukaha Elementary School’s campus next year after three decades accommodating students there.
Ka ‘Umeke Ka‘eo has operated at Keaukaha Elementary since it opened in 1987 as a state Department of Education Hawaiian immersion program — one of the state’s first.
In 2001, it became a public charter school and remained at Keaukaha, where it continued to operate in unused classroom space.
Ka ‘Umeke currently uses three of Keaukaha’s classrooms to accommodate about half its 232 students. Remaining students are housed nearby.
In the fall, however, Ka ‘Umeke is moving off-site completely to a location at the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center. It says the move is temporary — within about five years it hopes to relocate to a permanent campus that is in the planning process.
The move comes with some contention.
The state says Ka ‘Umeke must relocate because Keaukaha needs the additional classroom space to meet its growing student population. Keaukaha’s enrollment stands at 429, up from 281 in 2001, state Department of Education spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said.
Dela Cruz said Ka ‘Umeke was given “advanced notice” for “a number of years” that it needed to move and the issue was discussed at length, including at a community meeting in February.
She said the school was “sent a number of letters” starting in 2013 instructing them to vacate by the 2015-16 school year.
“That came and went and they did not vacate,” Dela Cruz said. “So, we’ve been asking them again to look at options to get our space back.”
Ka ‘Umeke administrators view the situation differently, saying in a Thursday news release that they think the school is being forced to relocate. Principal Olani Lilly said she was “saddened to see the waning support” from the DOE and that the school was not in agreement about a timeline nor reasons needed to move.
Lilly said she was told classrooms were needed, in part, for science, technology, engineering, art and math, or STEAM, activities which she doesn’t think need to be conducted in a separate space.
“The whole idea of STEAM is, it’s integrated into everything,” Lilly said. “So the idea of having a separate classroom is not compatible with the idea of STEAM learning.”
Moving also will double Ka ‘Umeke facility costs next year, Lilly said. Ideally, the school would have liked to continue using Keaukaha classrooms until its permanent school at Honohononui is completed. It’s currently working with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to secure access to the land, donated by Kamehameha Schools.
“It was very heartbreaking and very frustrating,” Lilly said Thursday, about an hour before a ceremony at Keaukaha for Ka ‘Umeke students and parents to bid farewell. “In hindsight, I’m trying to stay focused on the future. But there was never a discussion to sort of come together as one school and advocate for both facilities and both programs to coexist. The only option was to move.”
The issue overall is “difficult,” state Sen. Kai Kahele, D-Hilo, said on Thursday, adding he worked with both schools in an effort to mitigate disagreement, though he believes Ka ‘Umeke was given “ample time to relocate temporarily” and ultimately thinks it’s the “best thing for students at both campuses.”
“It’s never a situation where you’re going to please everybody but the fact of the matter is, Keaukaha Elementary has grown,” Kahele said. “ … And I think that’s where (Ka ‘Umeke) wants to go, too — they want to have their place to call home. And hopefully it will only accelerate future construction and implementation of their new campus.”
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
