Two East Hawaii charter schools are relocating classes because of the Kilauea volcanic and seismic activity.
Susie Osborne, head of Kua O Ka La Public Charter School located near Pahoa, said the school is “hopefully temporarily” relocating, “because of possible access concerns and possible air quality concerns, which is the same concerns of Pahoa schools.”
Beginning Monday, kindergarten through fourth-grade students will attend class at New Hope Church in Waiakea Uka, while fifth- through 12th-grade students will be at the Boys and Girls Club in Hilo.
Osborne said the school was closed this week to organize logistics such as transportation, food and school supplies.
“We’re in good shape in all of those areas with lots of community support,” she said.
According to Osborne, the school has 234 students. About 10 staff, including Osborne, and more than 60 students will relocate.
It’s a “very challenging time” for the families in the community, she said.
“We have a fantastic school team that are just amazing and the whole community and everyone is just pulling together to help each other,” she said.
Osborne said families are doing what they can to find homes and stabilize the situation.
“Education is a really important part of that support system, so we want to do whatever we can to support our families at this time, including academic accommodations, if that is what the family needs … if they would like to keep their children close beside them at this time.”
While administration has yet to address the lost instruction time, Osborne said there are numerous strategies the school could put in place to do that. For example, some core programs have online support.
Osborne said the school will stay in Hilo the remainder of the school year. Its graduation ceremony will take place May 25 at Maku‘u Farmers Market.
“We will make it through this challenging moment and heal and become stronger as a result of this,” she said.
Although farther from the volcanic activity, Ka ‘Umeke Ka‘eo, a Hawaiian language immersion school in Keaukaha, relocated students to the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Hawaii Community College because the increased lava and seismic activity and the increased risk of tsunami.
“We are very conscious and aware of tsunami risks,” principal Olani Lilly said.
According to Lilly, there are 229 students in the school, from preschool through ninth grade.
Kindergarten through second grades are at HCC, while third through ninth grades are at UH-Hilo. Lilly said administration is securing a site for the school’s preschool students.
After an evacuation May 3, Lilly said students were “visibly shaken and were unable to focus on the rest of the afternoon and the work at hand.”
Erring on the side of caution, school was canceled the next day. That meant classes were out when magnitude-5.3 and magnitude-6.9 earthquakes shook the area. It was after the last earthquake when Lilly said the school decided to see if there was anything available at the colleges.
“We’re so very grateful and thankful to both institutions because (it’s) amazing they were able to provide us something in two days,” Lilly said.
Ka ‘Umeke Ka‘eo students will remain at the colleges until May 31, the end of school.
According to the Public Charter School Commission website, Hawaii Academy of Art and Science, Kua O Ka La, Ka ‘Umeke Ka‘eo preschool class, Na Wai Ola and Volcano School of Arts and Sciences will be closed today.
Email Stephanie Salmons at ssalmons@hawaiitribune-herald.com
