Lahainaluna High School is seen in February 2022. As students prepare to return to Lahaina’s three remaining public school campuses in mid-October, parents and teachers are raising concerns over evacuation and emergency preparedness plans in the wake of the Aug. 8 wildfire that destroyed much of the town. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Parents, teachers and community members are expressing concerns over emergency evacuation plans for the three remaining Lahaina public schools as students prepare to return to campus after the fire that destroyed the town.
“Why must we wait to put our kids in danger before somebody comes up with a plan to make sure our children are safe?” Pakalana Phillips, a former public school teacher with children enrolled in public schools, told state legislators Thursday. “There is one entrance, one exit on Lahainaluna Road for our students.”
Phillips said she previously sat on a board that was working on moving King Kamehameha III Elementary school out of the tsunami zone, but after years it never happened. The school was damaged beyond repair in the Aug. 8 fire.
“I do agree our students belong together 100 percent. They need to be back with their schoolmates in the community, I agree, but we cannot wait another 20 years and put our kids in a dangerous situation without a plan,” said Phillips, who held back tears at times. Her family lost their home and she lost an uncle in the fire. School was canceled that day due to a power outage because of high winds.
Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary School teacher Elizabeth Bowen said now that the bottom portion of Lahainaluna Road is blocked off due to the fire damage, the only other way out of the area for the three schools is through the bypass.
She wondered how the state Department of Education would evacuate more than a thousands students and faculty out of the area in an emergency.
“I think that’s a huge consideration that needs to be in place before we open,” she said. “So everybody knows what to do. I think that’s one of the problems, the one road in and one road out for our schools is systemic in the poor planning decisions which amplified the tragedy of the fires.”
State representatives from the House Interim Schools Working Group listened to around 20 teachers and community members Thursday morning at its community meeting at the Harvest at Kumulani Chapel in Kapalua.
It’s one of six working groups from the Hawaii House of Representatives tasked with evaluating topics related to the Lahaina fire and making recommendations for legislative action in the 2024 session.
Each group will produce a preliminary report by Nov. 1 and deliver a final report by Dec. 15.
Central Maui Rep. Justin Woodson, co-chairman of the Interim Schools Working Group, said prior to testimony that the group has come up with some topics to work on that include evacuation plans — whether they are in place for all schools, if drills are being held and should be held and if the DOE bus service should be included in the evacuation plans.
They also want to look into how the DOE can ensure every student is accounted for if parents come to pick up their children in an emergency, and whether there should be different evacuation plans depending on if the emergency is due to winds or water, Woodson said.
Other issues include looking at the school’s infrastructure and whether cafeterias and gymnasiums should be able to withstand hurricane winds. Or, “is it even possible, I don’t know if we can build structures to withstand thousand-degree temperature fires,” Woodson said, alluding to the extreme temperatures officials have reported in the Lahaina fire.
Woodson said these are topics the group came up with but ultimately want to hear from the community.
“We want to know if you think we are on the right track, on the wrong track from the very beginning,” Woodson said.
State DOE Deputy Superintendent Tammi Chun said at the end of the meeting that the DOE is working on emergency evacuation plans for the three schools.
Earlier this week, the DOE announced reopening dates after fall break in October for Lahainaluna High, Lahaina Intermediate and Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary campuses.
Students from King Kamehameha III Elementary will report to Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary, where there will be temporary structures to house those students.
The state Department of Health said it was safe for the schools to open after environmental testing showed water, soil and air quality were in the clear.
DOE spokeswoman Nanea Kalani said in a text after Thursday’s meeting that all state DOE schools are required to have established emergency action plans. They are site-specific plans with associated drills that schools are expected to perform for emergencies such as a lockdown, shelter in place, earthquake, evacuation and tsunami (for those in the inundation zone).
There are also fire drills on a monthly basis for elementary schools and quarterly for secondary schools.
The plans are to be updated annually and submitted to the Safety, Security and Emergency Preparedness Branch.
On-site emergency action plan reviews are completed along with an assessment for hazmat disposal by the branch every three years.
As for the Lahaina schools, Kalani said their existing emergency action plans are “being reviewed and revised to be more responsive to the recent wildfires.” She said this includes working with the state Department of Transportation and Maui County to revise evacuation procedures.
The DOE is aiming to have the plans in place before the school staff goes back to the campuses on Oct. 6, Kalani said.
Parent John Carty said at the meeting, “We need more information to make us feel more comfortable about sending our children down into the zone, where air quality is very much a question.”
“The information you are providing so far is not adequate enough to just check off the list and move on,” he said.
He thanked the DOE for its website which posts environmental testing results from the schools, but said the way the results are being reported “makes it look like it’s only reporting smoke particulates in the air.”
“We need to know about the poisons that could be in the air,” he said, adding that he wanted to know the organizations doing the testing.
While the air quality now may be good, he wondered what would happen if things change, especially when the clearing of debris occurs.
“What is your plan for when all of the machines are down there stirring it all up?” he asked.
While the DOH has cleared the campuses for air quality, the director cautioned earlier this week that the ongoing reentry to properties could disturb ash in Lahaina and that the DOH will continue to monitor conditions.
Sonya Chambliss-Alexander, a mental health counselor who has two school-aged children, one who attended Kamehameha III Elementary before the fires, said that while the DOE is saying counseling is available, students’ parents have been telling her “it’s not working out.”
Parents said there are issues with scheduling appointments and that students are given counselors on Oahu or sometimes turned away.
“They are not getting the help,” Chambliss-Alexander said. “So I don’t know where the missing pieces (are) between we are offering mental health services and the parents getting them, but it’s not working, so I’m just asking you guys to look further into that.”
* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
Lahainaluna High School is seen in February 2022. As students prepare to return to Lahaina’s three remaining public school campuses in mid-October, parents and teachers are raising concerns over evacuation and emergency preparedness plans in the wake of the Aug. 8 wildfire that destroyed much of the town. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photoToday's breaking news and more in your inbox
The Maui News Maui County Department of Finance Director Scott Teruya was placed on administrative leave on last ...
Holy Innocents Episcopal Church, formerly on Front Street in Lahaina Town and destroyed by the fire, announced the ...
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7rq3UoqWer6NjsLC5jqecsKtfobykrctmpZ6vo2R%2FcX6SaGdyZ6CWv6a606xkrZ2RmLWmvtJmmqimk5q%2Fr7HDZqavnaJiwKS0zqijZp2mlrC2rdOipqdloKGur7%2BO