An openly gay Puna father whose home and car were spray-painted with an anti-gay slur this past weekend said he thinks the vandalism is related to the hostility he alleges his two sons have faced at a Pahoa charter school.
“I do not think this is a coincidence, at all, what’s happened to my home,” Joshua Franklin Alameda said Wednesday. “And I think the vandalism that happened to my home is minor compared to the harassment my children are receiving on a daily basis in school.”
Alameda pulled his two sons, ages 12 and 10, out of Kua O Ka La New Century Public Charter School almost two weeks ago. He filed a petition for a temporary restraining order last month against the mother of a boy whom Alameda said performed a lewd act in front of one of his sons on a school bus late last school year and also displayed pornography on a cellphone. On Oct. 17, Hilo District Judge Harry Freitas granted a mutual restraining order for a year by agreement and without any finding of facts.
According to Alameda, the alleged offender was suspended for a few days but was allowed by the school back on the bus, a scenario he described as “unacceptable.” He said the other student also has been waiting for his sons at the bus stop and has attempted to follow his children home. Alameda said he was told by the school it could do nothing because the alleged harassment was off school property.
“This is some serious stuff,” he said. “I’m trying to prevent a tragedy from happening and the school system isn’t helping. All the warning signs are there and they refused to expel the child.”
Alameda posted on Facebook that he found his home and car vandalized Sunday. As of Wednesday afternoon, his post had received more than 1,500 comments and 1,300 shares.
The incident is being investigated as fourth-degree criminal property damage, a petty misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, according to Hawaii Police Department Capt. Samuel Jelsma, the Puna commander, who said no suspects have been identified.
Asked if the incident is being investigated as a hate crime, Jelsma said that would be up to prosecutors.
“We investigate it as we would investigate any other criminal property damage complaint, and if it was proven to be a hate crime, prosecutors could stick on enhanced sentencing at that point,” he said.
Alameda, a car salesman at Big Island Honda, filed a suit last year against the state Department of Education, first in state court and later in federal court in Honolulu, claiming East Hawaii public schools have failed to protect his sons from bullies who targeted them because of their father’s sexual orientation. He said Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 19, which covers student misconduct and discipline, doesn’t specify sanctions for teachers who don’t protect children.
“My lawsuit is for systemic changes. It’s to change the way the Department of Education handles these issues,” Alameda said.
Alameda said his concern for his sons’ safety has prompted him to transfer them to four different schools in the past six years.
“I have no school to send my children to. … And the charter-based programs, all of them are not accepting children right now, so it becomes a difficult, difficult problem,” he said. “I think it’s absolutely ludicrous that I, as a taxpaying citizen, cannot find a school for my kids, you know.”
DOE spokeswoman Lindsay Chambers said in an email the department was unable to answer questions posed by the Tribune-Herald “due to the ongoing litigation.”
“However, as we’ve shared with Hawaii Tribune-Herald in 2015, HIDOE is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable learning atmosphere for students, families and educators,” Chambers said. “We work to reduce all inappropriate and improper student behavior by emphasizing a culture of respect, responsibility and resiliency, using a framework of prevention, response and follow-up. We work with communities to promote understanding, and investigate incidents to ensure student safety.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
