A Hilo-based charter school is looking at ways to rent out its historic Downtown Hilo property after hours, a move hoped to generate what it describes as much-needed, supplemental school funding. ADVERTISING A Hilo-based charter school is looking at ways
A Hilo-based charter school is looking at ways to rent out its historic Downtown Hilo property after hours, a move hoped to generate what it describes as much-needed, supplemental school funding.
Connections New Century Public Charter School, which already occupied the vast majority of the 84-year-old Kress Building on Kamehameha Avenue, expanded this summer to occupy even more of the historic structure.
The school moved into the space that once housed Kress Cinemas when the building’s previous occupant — Sure Foundation Hilo — moved out in June.
Now, the school is mulling ways to rent out various portions of the roughly 40,000-square-foot building after school hours. It enlisted Hilo musician and former school music teacher Moon Brown as events coordinator to spearhead the concept.
Brown said the school has generated about $1,500 so far after hosting the Dirty Dozen Brass Band this month for a 200-person fundraiser concert hosted in its ground floor performance stage area.
Brown said he has future facility rental plans already in mind — for example, the cinema space could be used for theater arts, music or comedy shows — and wants to see the building become a “safe, easy hub” in Downtown Hilo.
The entire Kress Building is owned by Connections’ nonprofit arm, commonly referred to as Friends of Connections.
Money generated could be used for various school needs — for example, air-conditioning improvements in the theater, resurfacing the building’s exterior or bolstering programs, school officials said.
“We’ve known for a long time we need to find ways to generate extra money because the state is not giving us extra money,” Connections Principal John Thatcher said. “Music is one venue, but there are all kinds of things we can do. We just don’t want the space to sit unused if we can bring in something that can help the school.”
Hawaii’s public charter schools receive about $6,800 in annual per-pupil funding, which is a fraction of funding allocated to traditional public schools, Thatcher said.
Connections spends nearly 90 percent of that money on salaries and facilities, he added, leaving about 10 percent for remaining expenses.
“And this is very typical of every charter school,” Thatcher said. “Every time the teachers get a raise, we go, ‘Oh, no,’ because even the state doesn’t give us all that money. They give us a part of that money. But we have to absorb the rest of the cost. … And at 90 percent, just for (personnel and facilities), it’s really hard to keep the school in operation.”
Thatcher said he’d ultimately like to see the facility rental plan generate enough income to help the school get its various “programs up to the level we’d like to be at.” For example, the school offers a robust after-school enrichment program in which students can learn to create music or take part in fitness activities and more.
“But there are a lot of things we’re restricted on by the amount of money we get,” Thatcher said.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
