Karisa Bayudan spent her junior year of high school moving between hotel rooms after her family lost their home in last yearʻs Lahaina wildfires. She did her homework from the couch when she didnʻt have space of her own.

Now a senior at Lahainaluna High School, things are better — for her and her classmates. Sheʻs keeping up with her coursework and taking classes at a local community college. And school spirit is better, she said, with students more eager to participate in homecoming traditions and volunteer events.

But there are still challenges ahead. Bayudan is worried about what will happen when her familyʻs temporary housing ends in the spring. And the consequences of the devastating Lahaina fires on Aug. 8, 2023, can be seen in her classmatesʻ academic scores and attendance, even as Hawai‘i’s education department has struggled to bring more mental health support to the schools.

“I’m in a much better head space now than I was in junior year, especially since I’m in more stable housing at the moment,” Bayudan said.

Recent data from the Hawaiʻi Department of Education illustrate just how difficult last year was for Lahaina students, with math and reading proficiency rates dropping by nearly half at some schools between 2023 and 2024.

The department received a $2 million federal grant to support student learning and mental health earlier this year, but a shortage of behavioral specialists and therapists has prevented schools from hiring necessary personnel. Instead, most of the funds spent so far have gone toward bus services allowing students to commute from Central Maui to Lahaina for school.

Only two-thirds of Lahaina students have returned to their schools since the fires, which destroyed King Kamehameha III Elementary and closed three other campuses from August to October 2023. Some families are skeptical that Lahaina schools will ever return to previous levels of enrollment and staffing, especially as teacher burnout is high and some students move away from West Maui.

But educators like Jarrett Chapin, who teaches at Lahainaluna, believe their students are benefitting from the stability and structure of this year. Kids are more engaged in class and attend school regularly, teachers say, and schools are doubling down on tutoring and personalized check-ins, with an eye on ensuring kids graduate on time. 

“The fire is a landmark or touchstone that everyone has in common, but it’s not as raw,” said Chapin. “I think school life has improved.”

Improvements In Learning

At Lahainaluna High School, Chapin said his students were in survival mode after the fires. It was difficult for students to stay focused and motivated, he added, especially when they were facing so much uncertainty at home.

Last year, 5% of Lahainaluna students tested proficient in math, down from 10% in the 2022-23 school year. The school’s college enrollment rate dropped from 48% to 40% between 2023 and 2024, despite the University of HawaiÊ»i’s offer of full scholarships to students who graduated from Lahainaluna in June.  to keep up in their classes after the fires and complete graduation requirements.

Test scores for the current school year won’t be released until next fall, and it’s unclear what long-term effects the fires will have on student learning. But at least itÊ»s a less chaotic year.

“Kids still go through stuff, but gosh, it was so raw last year,” Chapin said. “We are so much further away from that.”

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, meeting with state leaders and Lahaina principals earlier this month, emphasized the importance of high-quality support for students as they continue to grieve after the fires, and for staff, who may be experiencing burnout.

Students at King Kamehameha III Elementary experienced some of the greatest disruptions, missing over 50 days of school last year. In the spring, roughly a third of students tested proficient in math and reading, down from 45% the year before.

Mindi Cherry, a teacher at King Kamehameha III Elementary, said her first graders seem to be on track with their learning this year. To curb absenteeism, the school is offering ice cream parties to classes with the highest attendance rates, she said. Teachers will also offer tutoring in January to students who have fallen behind.

DOE said recruiting and retaining teachers also remains a priority, although the drop in student enrollment at some schools has corresponded to the loss of some staff. Lahainaluna lost a few teachers in the math and English departments, Chapin said, but the remaining staff has been able to serve the existing student population, which fell by 200 kids this year.

Erin Vegas, who taught fourth grade at Princess NāhiÊ»enaÊ»ena Elementary last year, said she’s worried schools could continue to see a drop in their staffing in the future with the high cost of living and lack of affordable housing in West Maui.

“They won’t be able to retain anybody if there’s this huge fear that so many teachers will never be able to stay,” Vegas said, adding that she moved to OÊ»ahu after she wasn’t able to find housing at the end of last school year. The education department plans to build  on Lahainaluna’s campus that could be available for teachers starting next summer. 

Where Did The Students Go?

While Lahaina’s student population dropped by a third this year, not all students left at the same rate.

Before the fires, roughly half of Lahaina students were low-income. Now, at least three-quarters of students at Lahaina schools are, according to data from standardized tests issued every spring.

King Kamehameha III Elementary teacher Robert Livermore says wealthier families may have moved out of Lahaina schools since the fires and transitioned to private or charter schools.

“Those who could did, those who couldn’t went without,” Livermore said, adding that he sees more students coming to school without snacks or supplies this year.

It’s more difficult to explain declining enrollment trends among other groups of students. For example, white students made up over 45% of King Kamehameha III Elementary’s student population before the fires but have since dropped to less than 30% of the overall enrollment. English language learners now make up more than a third of the elementary school’s population, compared to only 18% before the fires.

The department did not respond to questions about enrollment, and there’s little data available on how the overall population of Lahaina has changed since the fires.

Shrinking student populations in Lahaina could mean cuts in staffing and budgets in the coming years, since enrollment determines a large part of schools’ budgets. DOE Deputy Superintendent Tammi Oyadomari-Chun said the department plans on slowly reducing Lahaina schools’ budgets over the next few years to prevent schools from losing resources and teachers entirely.

Some families who sought other learning options after the fires still haven’t returned to Lahaina schools.

David Weeks chose to enroll his children in HawaiÊ»i Technology Academy, a charter school with a Lahaina campus, when he didn’t feel safe sending his children to DOE schools near the burn zone last year. While his daughter returned to Lahaina Intermediate this fall, Weeks added, his son has remained at HTA. 

Kaliko Storer, a parent at Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary, said some families simply don’t have the money or time to wait for housing to open up in West Maui. She’s hopeful more students will return to Lahaina schools in the future, but she also understands if families don’t want their children to keep moving campuses.

“It’s a work in progress,” she said.  

A Need For More Services

But while there are some indications that academics are on the upswing in schools, staff and students say they’re worried about having enough mental health resources to help those who are still processing the events of last year.

Heather Long, program director for Maui Youth and Family Services, said some students are only now understanding the loss and trauma they experienced after the fires. When Lahaina schools reopened last year, she added, many students were still focused on securing their basic needs and weren’t fully processing their emotions.

“Dealing with the trauma now, I actually do think it gets worse,” Long said, adding that a shortage of counselors and therapists on Maui can make it harder for students to connect with trusted adults or focus on their schoolwork if they’re struggling emotionally.

King Kamehameha III Elementary Principal Ian Haskins said the elementary school has two counselors and a behavioral specialist for students, but it’s still a struggle to find providers . After the fires, DOE trained Lahaina staff to help students cope with mental health struggles and trauma, and partnered with Kaiser Permanente and other organizations to offer support groups for students.

The Lahaina complex and surrounding region is hiring five positions focused on student behavior and mental health, with some of the positions vacant since January, according to DOE’s .

But the department has struggled to spend much of a $2 million federal grant supporting mental health and academics. So far, Chun said, DOE has spent roughly $600,000 on bus services for students who are commuting to Lahaina schools from other parts of the island, but hasn’t been able to hire mental health professionals like it intended under the grant.

The grant will run until next summer.

In the meantime, school principals say they’re worried about students and staff who spent the last year running on adrenaline. Teachers are tired, said Lahainaluna Principal Richard Carosso, and many were burned out at the end of last school year.

“I don’t think summer was long enough for our staff,” he said earlier this month in a meeting with state and federal leaders.

Bayudan, the senior at Lahainaluna, said she’s grateful for the therapists available on campus but wishes students received more encouragement to seek care. Many of her friends and classmates are hesitant to open up about the emotions and challenges they’re facing, she added.

“I don’t think what we have right now is serving us enough,” Bayudan said.

This story was originally published on Civil Beat.

Lahaina’s four public schools will close on Aug. 8 to honor the first anniversary of the Maui wildfires, the Board of Education decided on Thursday.

Students at King Kamehameha III Elementary, Princess Nahienaena Elementary, Lahaina Intermediate and Lahainaluna High School will begin classes on Aug. 7 as planned. Incoming freshmen at Lahainaluna High School will come to campus a day early, on Aug. 6, for orientation.

The four schools will reopen on Friday, Aug. 9.

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The board’s decision to close schools on Aug. 8 follows a Maui County Council resolution asking the Hawaii Department of Education to delay the start of the school year for all Maui schools by a week so classes on the island wouldn’t coincide with the anniversary of the fires. The council passed the resolution last month, although some community members said it could be logistically difficult to start classes a full week later than planned.

Superintendent Keith Hayashi said he recognized that not all families will be able to take off work on Aug. 8. But, he said, it’s important for staff and students to commemorate the anniversary of the fires with their loved ones, and the department is seeking resources and services to support families who can’t find child care on the anniversary of the fires.

“We also remain committed to ensuring students’ academic well-being and providing essential support and resources at our schools, such as additional behavioral health specialists on campus,” Hayashi said in his to the board.

Even if schools remained open on Aug. 8, Hayashi added, it could be difficult to staff campuses if many employees took personal leave.

In response to board members’ concerns about students’ academic progress, King Kamehameha III Elementary Principal Ian Haskins said his school has offered summer learning opportunities to help children catch up on missed instruction from last year. Schools will continue to address any learning loss in the upcoming academic year, he added.

“We will make sure students get what they need,” Haskins said.

Students at King Kamehameha III Elementary of the academic year after their campus was burned beyond repair last August.

At least one private school has adjusted the start of its school year to recognize the one-year anniversary of the fires. Maui Preparatory Academy announced earlier this summer that classes will begin on Aug. 9 instead of Aug. 7.

Throughout last year, Lahaina teachers repeatedly asked the department for more scheduling flexibility and mental health resources in the aftermath of the wildfires. In response, DOE announced that employees can donate leave days to teachers who lost their property last summer.

Teachers can donate or request additional leave until mid-September.

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.

This was originally published on .

Val Kalahiki isn’t sure her students know what a fire alarm sounds like. In November 2019, Konawaena Elementary’s fire alarm system broke, and it hasn’t been replaced, said Kalahiki, who runs the after-school program at the Hawaii island school. 

In the case of a fire, the main office can use the loudspeaker system to inform students and teachers, Kalahiki said. But after the main office closes at 4:30 p.m., Kalahiki said she has to remain extra vigilant as she oversees 130 students who remain on campus for the after-school program. 

“Where is the state putting all of our money if they can’t even protect our kids?” Kalahiki said.

Her school is one of over two dozen that lacks a working fire alarm, according to Department of Education estimates.   

Concern for school fire safety has gained urgency following the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires that killed 99 people and destroyed more than 2,200 structures, including King Kamehameha III Elementary in Lahaina.

The state House Schools Working Group, formed in the aftermath of the Lahaina fires,  earlier this month finding some Hawaii schools “vulnerable to fire.” The  for better protecting students, from updating schools’ fire sprinkler systems to making evacuation plans more accessible to the public. 

Increased Urgency

But the problems long predated the Maui fires, with some schools waiting years to have broken fire alarm systems repaired. In a House education committee hearing in March, Department of Education deputy superintendent Curt Otaguro estimated that while 80% of Hawaii schools had working fire alarms, 12% had alarm systems in critical condition.

“That’s just not acceptable,” Otaguro said in the hearing.

DOE spokeswoman Nanea Kalani said the department now has 28 fire alarm systems needing repairs. Over 250 public schools fall under the DOE system.

Randall Tanaka, assistant superintendent for the office of facilities and operations, said DOE has made repairs to some systems since the spring, but larger repairs need more time since some require updates to schools’ electrical wiring systems.

“It’s a high priority for us,” Tanaka said.

Many of Hawaii’s public schools .

“A significant number of school buildings in Hawaii lack modern fire suppression systems, such as automatic fire sprinklers and fire alarms, leaving them vulnerable in the event of a fire,” the House Schools Working Group draft report said. 

The House has scheduled a  on the schools working group’s findings. A final report on that and other Maui-related topics is due Dec. 15. The DOE said it is still looking over the report but will submit testimony by Thursday.

Broken Systems, Delayed Repairs

County fire departments conduct inspections on schools every year. To pass these inspections, schools need to have working fire alarm systems, said Parrish Purdy, captain of the fire prevention bureau for Maui County.

DOE said 90% of its schools passed their fire inspections in the 2022-23 school year. 

But for schools with broken alarm systems, it can sometimes take years to receive replacements or repairs.

For example, as of 2017, the Department of Education acknowledged that King Intermediate School on Oahu had lacked a working fire alarm system for seven years.

If campuses have broken fire alarm systems, they must go on fire watch, said Kendall Ching, a captain with the Honolulu Fire Department. That means teachers and staff members are responsible for notifying the school’s administration and the fire department if they see signs of a potential blaze. 

There’s no time limit on how long a school can remain on fire watch, but it’s not meant to be a long-term solution, Purdy said.

In January 2021, fire watch protocols helped to keep an electrical fire from spreading on Konawaena Elementary’s campus. Second-grade teacher Anika Agerlie said she’s grateful a custodian was on campus and quickly alerted the school administration, but she worries what would have happened if the fire wasn’t caught early on. 

“Four years is way too long to be on fire watch,” Agerlie said. “One year is way too long”

Legislative Action Planned

Rep. Jeanne Kapela represents District 5 on Hawaii island, which previously included Konawaena Elementary before redistricting. In the 2023 legislative session, she introduced and , which requested the DOE to submit a list of schools with broken fire alarms and a timeline for completing these repairs. 

The House Education Committee has not yet received the DOE’s list, Kapela said.

Kapela said she plans to introduce a bill next year providing funding to fix schools’ fire alarm systems. DOE said it would need to spend $10 million annually for the next five years to complete its repairs. 

“There’s no alternative to having a working fire alarm,” Kapela said. 

Tanaka is unsure of the exact timeline for fixing schools’ fire alarm systems but said the DOE is constantly searching for solutions. He added that a shortage of companies who are able to fix schools’ fire alarm systems has contributed to delays.

Structural Changes

Since the August wildfires, DOE has focused on keeping the perimeters of schools safe and has worked with the Department of Transportation to cut down the grass and dry brush surrounding campuses such as Lahainaluna High, Tanaka said. He added that DOE is evaluating available emergency escape routes for schools, pointing to the  leading out of the Lahaina schools that DOT constructed last month.

He added that DOE continues to assess the fire preparedness of schools, particularly in fire-prone areas.

When it comes to building new schools or renovating old ones, the state is working with the National Council on School Facilities and the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure campuses have fire-safe infrastructures, said Keone Farias, executive director of the School Facilities Authority. For example, he said, the EPA’s guidance on what building materials are most fire-resistant will inform projects moving forward.

Farias said SFA hasn’t yet been involved in conversations around rebuilding King Kamehameha III’s permanent campus. But, he added, the agency will take all the precautions to protect the school when the time comes. 

“We’ll build the safest school we possibly can,” Farias said. 

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.

The Hawaii Department of Education continues to be pressed to address community concerns around fire preparedness and health precautions at Lahaina’s reopened school campuses, including the lack of transport at Lahainaluna High if a mass evacuation was required.

The issue was raised Thursday, as the House Working Group on Schools heard public comment on its  recommending how Hawaii schools can better prepare for future fires and disasters. The working group, one of six  of the Aug. 8 wildfires, will release a final version of the report next month that will inform policy priorities ahead of the 2024 legislative session. 

Last month, students and faculty  to Princess Nahienaena Elementary, Lahaina Intermediate and Lahainaluna High despite community  that toxic ash from the nearby burn zone could contaminate the campuses. The DOE emphasized that extensive testing of air quality, water and soil indicated it was safe for students to return.

Princess Nahienaena’s campus is also hosting students and faculty from King Kamehameha III Elementary, whose campus was lost in the fires.

At Thursday’s Board of Education meeting, deputy superintendent Tammi Oyadomari-Chun said just over 2,000 students are enrolled in the four Lahaina schools, roughly 1,000 fewer students compared to the start of the year. Many students have relocated to other public schools on Maui or enrolled in non-public schools across the state.

Parents had already raised concerns that there was only one road in and out of the three Lahaina campuses at a community meeting in September. In response, DOE and Department of Transportation built an  days before schools were set to reopen. Justin Woodson, co-chair of the House working group, commended the DOE for the quick response. 

“It is one way in which we show how we can be more responsive to community concerns,” Woodson said. 

However Woodson questioned schools’ abilities to respond to future disasters. Currently, schools do not make their emergency action plans publicly available although the House draft report recommended that they do so. 

But DOE deputy superintendent Curt Otaguro said the department will not release the plans at this time. Emergency action plans can include sensitive information, including schools’ responses to security threats like active shooters, he said. 

He added that the department may reevaluate its stance to see if it could publicly release information about evacuation plans in the case of a fire. 

“We have nothing to hide,” Otaguro said. 

Students’ abilities to evacuate in the case of emergency was another point of concern for representatives. Right now, Otaguro said, some schools don’t have buses on campuses that could assist with the mass evacuation of students. For example, at Lahainaluna High, students would use personal vehicles or evacuate the campus by foot, Otaguro added.

“When you say that evacuation is reliant on personal vehicles, already that concerns me as a parent,” Woodson said.

DOE is discussing potential options for providing transportation to schools in the case of a mass evacuation, Otaguro said. He added that boarders at Lahinaluna High used personal vehicles to evacuate the campus on Aug. 8, although the school has since purchased transportation that can move boarders off-campus in the case of emergency.

Rep. Lisa Marten also recognized that some Lahaina parents have been following school air quality monitoring “like crazy” out of concerns that heavy winds in the burn zone could cause toxic dust to spread across the campuses. 

Students have also raised worries about the air quality following high winds at the high school over the past week, said Lavinia Tuavao-Tupou, a senior at Lahainaluna High who attended Thursday’s BOE meeting. She added that many of her peers didn’t attend school earlier in the week in response to the red flag warning issued for the state.

“The fear is still there,” Tuavao-Tupou said.

Air quality monitors are sensitive and may suddenly change in response to harmless activities, like weed whacking, that stir dust on campus, Otaguro said. But he recognized that DOE could provide additional communication to families explaining why air quality readings unexpectedly change during the day. 

In the case that students need to shelter in place if the air quality significantly worsens, some Lahaina classrooms will also need to be retrofitted with air conditioning, Otaguro added. 

“It’s a work in progress,” he said. 

Moving into the second half of the school year, DOE must address ongoing concerns about the housing insecurity of Lahaina students and teachers, Oyadomari-Chun said. In the Lahaina schools that reopened last month, just under half of the students had former home addresses that fell within the burn zone. 

“What we have concerns about is what’s going to happen in the long-run in terms of both staffing and student enrollment,”  Oyadomari-Chun said.

Lahaina schools will continue to offer free breakfast and lunch to all Lahaina students through the end of the school year, Oyadomari-Chun said. With donor support, DOE began offering free meals to all students when they first returned to campus, and the initiative will continue with the support of the Bezos Family Foundation and Marriott Foundation, she added. 

Gary Kanamori, principal at Princess Nahienaena Elementary, told the BOE that free meals will be vital in helping families transition back to school.

“Our entire school community will continue to rebuild and thrive,” he said.

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.

Megan Cochran’s daughter attended preschool for the first time just days before the Lahaina wildfire. Even in her short time at Holy Innocents Preschool in Lahaina, Cochran saw her daughter thrive.

But after the Aug. 8 fire destroyed much of the seaside town, including Holy Innocents, Cochran struggled to find a new preschool on an island that already faced a child care shortage before the disaster.

“To have (preschool) taken away from her, it really affected her,” Cochran said, adding that she enrolled her daughter in Maui Adventist Pre-Elementary School in Kahului last month.

Lahaina, which had approximately 1,700 children ages 5 and under before the wildfires, lost 255 licensed child care seats in August. At least six Lahaina centers serving young children remain closed nearly three months after the deadly blaze, according to a , a child care resource and referral agency.

A ‘Deep Need’ For Child Care

The two Lahaina preschools that are open — The Preschool at Kapalua and Maui Preparatory Academy’s preschool program — are operating at full capacity, leaving many families without options as they return to work and try to rebuild after the fires. 

“We can’t get back to work, we can’t rebuild our homes or anything if we have little toddlers around who need so much attention,” Cochran said. 

Meanwhile, many providers who lost their centers in the fire face uncertainty about when and how they can start offering child care again. 

The loss of facilities has exacerbated a longstanding child care shortage.

Liz Turcik, director of admissions and a history teacher at Maui Preparatory Academy, said she has received calls from pregnant mothers asking to reserve waitlist spots for their unborn children.

Since August, she added, she’s received more desperate calls from parents asking if they can enroll their toddlers in the academy’s preschool.

“The fire has not changed that deep need for preschool programs,” Turcik said. 

Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, who has made increasing preschool capacity in the state a signature issue, said the state has identified West Maui as a community with high child care needs.

She said that, even before the fires, Lahaina had no state-run preschool classrooms that were free of charge for families, although there was a federally funded Head Start program.

Now, with heightened demand for child care in Lahaina, the state is considering how quickly it could open public preschool facilities on Princess Nahienaena Elementary’s campus, Luke said, referring to one of the recently reopened Lahaina schools.

As some families leave Lahaina or remain out of work, child care remains essential for helping students heal and socialize after the fires, said Kaina Bonacorsi, the early childhood resource coordinator for Maui County.

Unclear Timelines For Rebuilding

Child care centers also provided families with a safe place to leave their children in the days after the worst U.S. wildfire in modern history as parents visited resource hubs and sought aid from state agencies, Bonacorsi added. 

Recognizing this need, , a nonprofit providing educational programs across the state, offered free child care in Kahului until mid-September. Dana Vela, the program’s president and CEO, said her organization was able to find permanent placements for several families in child care centers elsewhere on Maui.

“It comes down to the stability of the children,” Vela said. 

But uncertainty remains around finding long-term child care solutions for Lahaina. 

Children of the Rainbow Preschool was a child care fixture in the Lahaina community from the 1970s, when it first operated under the name Lahaina Preschool. The preschool served 36 students before the fires and had a waitlist of three years, said director Noelle Kamaunu.

Kamaunu hasn’t been able to visit her school since the fires. From what she can see from Google Maps and drone footage of the burn zone, she believes the preschool’s main building was completely destroyed.

Kamaunu said she is unsure if she should reopen in a temporary location or wait until she can completely rebuild the school at its original location. She added that she has no idea when she could start the school’s construction in Lahaina.

“I’m just looking at all the options and really just trying to figure out what would be the right thing to do at this time,” Kamaunu said.

In the meantime, Kamaunu said, she’s applied for a public assistance grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help cover the cost of her school’s losses, which she estimates to be at least $1 million.

Adam Weintraub, communication director for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said nonprofit daycares and preschools can apply for public assistance grants if they have also applied for a loan from the Small Business Administration. Between SBA loans and public assistance grants, child care providers may qualify for aid covering the full value of their losses in the fire, Weintraub said. 

Adam Weintraub, communication director for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said nonprofit daycares and preschools can apply for public assistance grants if they have also applied for a loan from the Small Business Administration. Between SBA loans and public assistance grants, child care providers may qualify for aid covering the full value of their losses in the fire, Weintraub said. 

Before the fire, Sacred Hearts School in Lahaina enrolled 48 students in its early learning center and junior kindergarten program. Although the school’s campus was lost to the fires, kindergarten to eighth grade students have resumed classes at the Sacred Hearts Mission Church in Kapalua. 

But because child care centers have different facility requirements than primary schools, Sacred Hearts’ preschool has yet to reopen, said early learning center and junior kindergarten director Kawailani Silva. Sacred Hearts is looking for other spaces for a temporary preschool, but the process has been slow, Silva said.

She added that families are frustrated with the lack of available child care options, especially when many are nervous to send their children to programs on the other side of the island.

“We need these programs,” Silva said. 

High Demand, Limited Options

Lahaina’s Head Start, a federal initiative which provides free preschool and family services to eligible 3- and 4-year-olds, operated on Princess Nahienaena’s campus before the fires, said Debbi Amaral, director of early childhood services at Maui Economic Opportunity.

While Princess Nahieanena reopened to elementary students last month, Head Start has yet to welcome back students. The program’s large shade structure was badly damaged from heavy winds during the fire and has yet to be replaced, Amaral said. She hopes Lahaina’s Head Start will reopen to students in January, if not earlier. 

At Maui Prep, the preschool program had enrolled a maximum of 32 students at the start of the year, and its waitlist has more than doubled from 20 to 45 students, Turcik said. She added that the annual tuition for the preschool is $8,856, although the school is offering financial aid to preschool families this year.

Head of School Miguel Solis said Maui Prep hopes to expand its preschool capacity by 13 students next year in response to the high number of families without child care after the fires. 

“There really aren’t a lot of options for preschoolers to attend school, and it was already difficult to begin with,” Solis said. 

But, he added, he’s unsure how difficult it will be to add another preschool teacher amid the state’s ongoing shortage of child care providers. 

Vela echoed Solis’ concerns, adding that, even if more spaces become available to host child care programs, she’s unsure how many Lahaina providers will be able to immediately return to work. 

More assistance was offered in late October when the Department of Health opened its Child Care Subsidy Program for families impacted by the Lahaina fire and waived past eligibility requirements such as families’ income cap.

As of Oct. 31, DHS had received 110 applications for the program, Scott Morishige, benefits, employment and support services division administrator at DHS, said in an emailed statement. The program helps to cover the costs of child care, and payments for eligible families will run for 12 months, Morishige added. 

Moving forward, Kamaunu said the state must recognize child care as a means of revitalizing the community after the fires. In the meantime, she added, she’ll continue to consider her reopening options and wait for more information about rebuilding in Lahaina.

“It has to get better,” Kamaunu said. “That’s all I know.”

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.

Robert Livermore’s wish list for his new classroom includes staplers, pencil sharpeners and other basic supplies. But some items in his destroyed King Kamehameha III Elementary classroom can’t be replaced anytime soon — hundreds of dollars worth of Lego bricks, a huge rug displaying the letters of the alphabet and parachute projects his first grade students made every year.

As he prepares to welcome students back to Lahaina, he wishes he had said goodbye to his classroom before the deadly Aug. 8 wildfire consumed the school along with hundreds of other buildings.

“I didn’t get to take anything with me,” Livermore said. “I’m going to start all over again from scratch.”

Three surviving Lahaina schools, which temporarily closed because of the fire, are set to reopen their campuses next week. Educators began preparing for the reopening with concern high about students’ mental health, new classroom arrangements and lost learning time.

Many teachers also question how they can offer stability to their students despite the upheaval in their own lives and a lack of clarity over the number of children returning to campuses and logistical arrangements.

Safety Concerns

Some have chosen not to return to jobs in the historic Maui town and have sought alternative teaching arrangements. The Department of Education said that, while a majority of educators will be returning to Lahaina, a small number of teachers has sought temporary relocations. The DOE didn’t specify how many teachers will not be returning to the Lahaina campuses next week.

The phased reopening will begin with Lahainaluna High on Monday, followed by Lahaina Intermediate School on Tuesday and Princess Nahienaena Elementary on Wednesday. Students from King Kamehameha III will be able to attend classes in tent-like structures on Princess Nahienaena’s campus until  next year.

That adds to the uncertainty. Livermore has yet to be assigned a teaching space and doesn’t know how many students he’ll have.

Livermore predicts that his class size may be much smaller than usual because some students may not return to campus amid questions about  after the devastating fire leveled a large swath of Lahaina, leaving a path of toxic debris and worries about air pollution.

The DOE has said extensive testing of air, drinking water and soil quality has indicated that it is safe for students and staff to return to the three schools, which were not in the scorched area known as the burn zone.

Former King Kamehameha III educator Justin Hughey wasn’t reassured by the tests and recently chose to relocate to Kahului Elementary, despite teaching in Lahaina for almost 17 years. Hughey said he feels unsafe teaching so close to the site of the fires, especially when strong winds or demolition could disturb the ash and soil at the burn zone in the future.

“Maybe the water is fine right now. Maybe the air is fine right now. Maybe the soil is OK right now, but it’s only a matter of time,” Hughey said.

Sen. Angus McKelvey echoed those concerns in a letter he sent to the DOE on Wednesday, urging the department to delay the schools’ reopening until more extensive testing can be done. While the Environmental Protection Agency  to prevent ash from spreading, McKelvey worries that it won’t be enough and students and teachers may be exposed to unknown toxins near the schools.

“We’re talking about people’s children here, their number one possession they have left in the world,” McKelvey said. “So that’s even more of a reason why they should be moving cautiously.”

Prioritizing Recovery

Following the fires, learning options for Lahaina students ranged from attending in-person classes in Central and South Maui to enrolling in online instruction. But, teachers say, a focus on social-emotional learning has taken precedence over the lessons they typically introduce at the start of the year.

In a preview of what’s to come, Lahainaluna High teachers have already adjusted their lesson plans after starting school in September in temporary accommodations on Kulanihakoi High’s campus.

Lahainaluna High teacher Jarrett Chapin said his students appeared more resilient than he had expected, although he is sure the fires are always on their minds.

To make his English language arts lessons more therapeutic, Chapin said he focused on the themes of nature in the first quarter, with students analyzing the works of Robert Frost, watching a documentary about wild dogs in Turkey and writing their own poetry reflecting on the destruction and beauty of fires. 

“Generally, it did look like high school work,” Chapin said. “It was maybe just not as rigorous.” 

Even as she incorporated meditation exercises and guided coloring activities into her own lessons, Lahainaluna High science teacher Jacquelyn Ellis said she remains concerned about her students’ well-being, adding that many have been reluctant to talk about the events of the past two months.

Currently, four behavioral health specialists and 11 school counselors serve Lahaina schools, with 20 additional mental health staff members being assigned to schools on the island starting next week, DOE spokeswoman Nanea Kalani said.  

While it is important for schools to have therapy readily available for students, teens may feel most comfortable processing trauma with one another, said Liz Hartline, an assistant professor of early childhood education at Honolulu Community College. She added that it is important for students to have the freedom to simply connect with their friends.

In Paradise, California, teachers and administrators who faced similar devastation in their communities following the 2018 Camp Fire say the return to campus won’t be easy but the camaraderie forged among surviving families will help.

Paradise Junior High School principal Larry Johnson said “community was everything” after the fire, with students attending school even though it had temporarily relocated to a hardware store.

“There were very traditional schools that they easily could have enrolled in, but instead chose to go to school in a hardware store because they needed to be around each other and their teachers,” Johnson said.

Return To The Classroom

Driving to Lahainaluna High for a teacher workday on Friday morning, Ellis said she got a little teary as she returned to the school for the first time since the fire. Once at school, she saw that some teachers still had the date of the fires written on their whiteboards, while she tried not to look at the nearby burn zone.

“There’s little reminders all around,” Ellis said. “It’s a big mixture I would say of, excited to be back here but also just still mourning everything.”

Ellis spent the day setting up microscopes and preparing for a lab on the properties of water, although she also is unsure exactly how many students will be returning to her classes after fall break. 

In a letter sent to families last Friday, complex area superintendent Rebecca Winkie said the DOE is revising schools’ emergency action plans to respond to the possible need for mass evacuations. The letter also said each classroom will be equipped with HEPA air filters, and schools will continue to monitor air quality sensors every day.

Still, it’s likely to be a “rocky” transition for some returning students and families, Hartline said families. She said it can be soothing for children if families and teachers introduce and stick to new school routines.

Heather Brown, a teacher at Paradise Junior High School, said teachers tried to offer students some sense of normalcy following the 2018 fires. She took students on occasional field trips to a nearby ice cream store and helped prepare the sixth grade class for its annual camping trip. 

“As horrific as that fire was, I have to say, a lot of us look back at that time we spent with each other and the stories we share fondly,” Brown said.

At Lahainaluna High, Ellis hopes to keep traditions alive as the senior class adviser. The school will celebrate a belated homecoming week during students’ first days back on campus, Ellis said, adding that she hopes the theme of “Luna Strong” will promote unity and pride. 

Chapin is worried students may have trouble coping if their families lose their temporary housing or their parents remain out of work. But, he added, he’s determined to show up for his school – starting with repainting his room light orange and blue to brighten up his students’ moods.  

“Education can make people feel better when it’s done right,” Chapin said.

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.

After an uncertain and challenging start to the school year, students will be able to return to Lahaina schools in mid-October, officials said Tuesday.

Hundreds of children from Lahaina have been attending schools elsewhere on Maui or undergoing distance learning since the Aug. 8 inferno that left much of the historic town in ruins, killing 97 people and uprooting thousands from their homes. 

One school, King Kamehameha III Elementary, was burned beyond repair, but the other three will reopen next month after extensive air, drinking water and soil quality testing and debris removal, according to the state Department of Education.

Lahainaluna High School will be the first to reopen on Oct. 16, followed by Lahaina Intermediate on Oct. 17 and Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary on Oct. 18. The elementary school will serve its original student population as well as students formerly enrolled in King Kamehameha III Elementary.

Meanwhile, a temporary campus is being built to replace King Kamehameha III Elementary at the Pulelehua project, a mixed-use development located between Kaanapali and Napili. The school should be ready for operations in approximately 95 days, said Col. Jesse T. Curry of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is helping build the facility. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will fund the $5.36 million in building costs, said DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi. He added it is premature to talk about a timeline for building a permanent replacement for the school, although the department’s lease for the temporary site is currently set for three years. 

Prior to the start of the school year, 603 students were registered at King Kamehameha III Elementary, and 680 students were registered at Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary. A total of 3,001 students were registered at the four Lahaina campuses, which have been closed since the start of August.

Families may  in central and south Maui schools or in the Department of Education’s virtual learning option, Hayashi said. The department is still assessing its plans for the West Maui learning hubs providing in-person support to students enrolled in distance learning. 

“Our hope is that by providing the reopening dates, with about three weeks of lead time, families can use this information to make decisions that are in the best interest for their situation,” Hayashi said. 

The DOE said all large debris has been removed from the schools, and they’re undergoing professional cleaning.

Kara Scott, who lives in Napili, said her 8-year-old son was set to start third grade at King Kamehameha III Elementary this year. She said her family needed the temporary school site “yesterday,” adding that she and her partner cannot afford to take more time off to supervise their son as he completes the state’s distance learning program. 

Even when Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary reopens after fall break, Scott is unsure if she will enroll her son, citing concerns about unsafe air and soil quality on the campus. 

“We don’t know enough about the air quality and soil and water, and we’re afraid,” Scott said. 

David Brown, a special education teacher at King Kamehameha III, echoed Scott’s concerns of returning students to Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary, adding that some parents may not want their children passing by the site of the fire on a regular basis. However, he believes any site north of Kaanapali should be far enough away from the fires to ease parents’ concerns about their children’s health.

Kenneth Fink, director of the state Department of Health, emphasized that the drinking water and soil at the three Lahaina schools opening after fall break are safe. 

The air quality monitors on the three campuses have also consistently reported good air quality, Fink said, although the department will continue to monitor the air for any residual ash. 

“We’re very happy to be at this point that we can confidently say it’s safe for students and staff to return,” Fink said. 

In a Board of Education meeting last week, deputy superintendent Tammi Oyadomari-Chun said the department’s reopening plan will include procedures for monitoring any changes to schools’ air quality. 

Rebuilding can take years, Gov. Josh Green said, but he hopes that a return to school will provide Lahaina students with a stable routine that can aid their recovery. 

“The best way for us to heal is to achieve normalcy,” Green said. 

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.

This story was originally published in .

The Hawaii Department of Education says the number of students listed as missing or killed in the Lahaina fire is so small that releasing it would violate their privacy.

This comes as the department announced it has been unable to make contact with nearly 500 families in its system more than a month after the disaster that killed at least 115 people and displaced thousands.

Education officials have faced a groundswell of anger following the Aug. 8 fire that razed entire blocks. At a meeting on Maui last month,  expressed concerns over plans to relocate students and the timing for reopening school campuses.

At a Board of Education meeting Thursday in Honolulu, parents lined up to call for more transparency about efforts to find children who have not yet re-enrolled in school.

Superintendent Keith Hayashi said the department knows the whereabouts and education plans of most of the some 3,000 students who had been enrolled in Lahaina before the fire.

He said 907 of them have enrolled in the state’s distance learning program and 782 have enrolled in other public schools. Nearly 345 students are now enrolled in charter schools, private schools or have withdrawn, he said. 

“We are actively reaching out to contact families for the remainder of students who have not yet enrolled in an option, knowing that some may have moved out of state or have paused their child’s education for the time being,” he said.

Trying To Reach Families

After the meeting, DOE spokeswoman Nanea Kalani said the department has not heard back from 463 families that it has tried to call. There are 32 families that still have not been called as the department works its way down its list of phone numbers, she said. 

She also explained why the department has not released a number of those believed to have died or who remain missing. “For students, we can’t release their identities or numbers right now because the n-size is so small. The n-size is too small, if we said it we’d be in effect identifying them,” she said. N-size is a term used to describe a small subset of students.

Kalani pointed out that Maui County has a list with the names of people who are unaccounted for.

“The Maui Police Department is the lead on making those identifications,” she said, “and then their privacy rests with their parents to disclose whether they were students.”

Many attendees at the meeting called on the DOE to release more information and expressed concern about the well-being of children and families that have not been contacted.

“There’s a lot of anxiety because the students aren’t being identified as safe or deceased,” said Susan Pcola-Davis. “What I don’t understand is why. Why haven’t all the calls been made?”

One child, 7-year-old Tony Takafua, has  on the official list of the deceased released by the Maui Police Department. On Thursday, the death toll remained at 115 with 60 individuals identified. Five of those individuals’ families have not yet been notified.

Fourteen-year-old Keyiro Fuentes was victim by his family, though he has not been officially identified by police. Loved ones have said he was an incoming junior at Lahainaluna High School. 

When asked by members of the board why the process of contacting all the families has taken so long, Deputy Superintendent Heidi Armstrong described a “chaotic” situation in the immediate aftermath of the fires. 

Cellphone service and internet connections were down in Lahaina and surrounding areas. But she said Department of Education staff started “taking action from the first week.”

Reopening Plans

Staff members and school principals went to Red Cross shelters to try to identify families and students, she said. When shelters began closing and displaced people moved into hotels, school officials continued their searches there. 

Department employees are trying to call every family that hasn’t been contacted in person, but sometimes calls aren’t answered or returned, and in some cases voicemail boxes are full or nonexistent, making it impossible to leave a message, she said.

King Kamehameha III Elementary School was destroyed and the three other public schools in town, Princess Nahi‘ena‘ena, Lahaina Intermediate and Lahainaluna High, are closed. 

Lahainaluna High students will go to school temporarily at KulanihakoÊ»i High in Kihei beginning Sept. 14, according to the department. Students have  from West Maui.

Hayashi said he hopes to reopen the three Lahaina schools that weren’t destroyed “as soon as safely possible” and is aiming for sometime after fall break, which takes place Oct. 9-13. 

The department is working with contractors to conduct soil sampling around the school and evaluate the water quality, and the Department of Health has installed air quality sensors at the three campuses, he said. Professional services will also clean the schools and school officials will revise evacuation plans before schools reopen, he said.

Hayashi said the department had facilitated a 24/7 mental health hotline through the Hawaii Medical Service Association and made therapists available in schools and at community centers in Lahaina and Wailuku. 

Sites around West Maui, including churches and hotels, are being considered to serve as temporary classroom sites, and the state has plans to open in-person distance learning hubs for certain students, including those with special education needs and those in the Hawaiian language immersion program. Those hubs would also provide meals and mental health services, he said. 

Enoka-Shayne Bingo told department officials during the meeting that community members want to be more involved in the recovery process. 

“Let the village of all of these islands help,” he said. “Let us through this red tape, because we are all suffering with Lahaina.”

This article first appeared on .