After a thorough drenching by Tropical Storm Madeline on Wednesday, the weather was partly cloudy and mild throughout much of East Hawaii on Thursday.
Yet, thousands of public school students remained out of class.
The state Department of Education decided Tuesday to close all Hawaii Island public schools Wednesday and Thursday in part as “precautionary measures” based on “the track of the storm,” DOE spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said in an email.
Changing that decision once made wouldn’t have been easy. Fourteen schools served as emergency shelters Tuesday and remained open until 6 a.m. Thursday, which would have left inadequate time for schools to prepare after shelters ceased operating.
“Decisions are made with the best information provided at that time,” Dela Cruz said in the email. “If no schools are activated shelters and there is ample time to provide information to parents and staff, there is a possibility to making changes to a decision.”
Hawaii Island’s 16 public charter schools make closure decisions independently. The state Public Charter School Commission acts as the “authorizer,” commission spokeswoman Sheryl Turbeville said, and is “not the DOE of charter schools.”
“Each charter school is its own entity,” Turbeville said. “… We don’t tell the schools how to run or when to close.”
By early Wednesday afternoon, most of the island’s charter schools decided to close for Thursday anyway. The Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science mulled the decision a bit longer. HAAS Director Steve Hirakami said he’d been monitoring forecasts, some of which showed the storm would “pass Wednesday night, and Thursday would be OK.”
Ultimately, HAAS decided to close Thursday.
“I had to go with the grain of my parents and staff, many who were worried about staying open when everyone else was closed,” Hirakami said. “So, to avoid confusion and anxiety, I yielded to my staff and parents.”
Most private schools on the island also remained closed through Thursday. Kamehameha Schools spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said its decision to close Hawaii Island facilities Thursday was based on Wednesday forecasts that showed Madeline still as a hurricane with unknown impacts.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
