KALAHEO — There may not have been any school at Kalaheo School yesterday, but there sure was a lot of work being done. Support came from everywhere — parents, teachers, students, local churches and civic groups, even a resort —
KALAHEO — There may not have been any school at Kalaheo School yesterday, but there sure was a lot of work being done.
Support came from everywhere — parents, teachers, students, local churches and civic groups, even a resort — in cleaning up the debris from the devastating fire that struck at 3 a.m. Saturday, destroying Building A – the wing that housed the school’s administration building and six classrooms.
With Building A gone and two portable classrooms heavily damaged, the Head Start preschool program, special-education classes, and the school’s administration offices are facing a rapid relocation.
“The building that burned housed the special-education program,” said Malia Arcio, a Kalaheo School parent and an employee in the special-education program. “It’s so sad that the children that will have the hardest time adjusting are the ones that are affected the most.”
A Kaua‘i Fire Department investigation into the cause of the fire is complete, and being worked on now by Kaua‘i Police Department (KPD) detectives.
Officials have stopped short of citing arson as the cause of the fire, but Lt. Roy Asher of the KPD said investigators believe it’s likely that the fire was set. He said detectives and fire investigators still need to meet before making a final determination.
The dollar cost of the fire damage to the school hasn’t yet been determined, said State Department of Education (DOE) spokesperson Sandra Goya.
Goya said the DOE is working on moving portable classrooms to Kalaheo School over the summer prior to the opening of the new school year in late August.
Community support in clearing away the damage was strong on Monday, and aimed at having students back in class today.
Even the American and Hawaiian flags went back up the flagpole, raised by Kalaheo School fifth-grader Isabella Arcio along with her mom, Malia, Josie Parongao, a signing teacher at the school, and retired teacher Bob Gilmore.
“We got these new flags from the backup at Eleele School,” said Gilmore, as he helped raise the flag. He couldn’t stay home, he said, not after teaching at Kalaheo School for 36 years.
The school’s American flag was singed by the fire, but survived, and was on display, draped across a railing outside of the undamaged school lounge that became the school’s office over the weekend.
A plan to preserve the singed flag is in the works.
“It’s the only thing that survived the fire,” Isabella Arcio said.
The outpouring of support and offers of help from the community have been overwhelming, the administrative staff said as they fielded phone calls while establishing their new school office.
“The phones have been rewired, the number is still the same,” one worker said.
Help came from the congregation at one of the school’s closest neighbors, Kalaheo Missionary Church. The church is offering everything from space to wooden mailboxes to the school. Kalaheo School’s Head Start program is moving to the church. The preschool was housed in one of the portable classrooms that sustained heavy damage from the blaze.
“They said we could use their place for the month of May,” said Lucille Calderon of the Child and Family Services and Head Start, as she prepared to drive salvaged school equipment to the church. “It’s going to take (us) up to the end of the school year.”
The church also joined forces with volunteers from Po‘ipu-based Kauai Christian Fellowship, bringing lunch and drinks for school staff and cleanup volunteers.
Teacher Joel Kawate unloaded a van-load of materials from King Kaumuali‘i elementary school, a school where he once taught.
Members of the Rotary Club of Poipu Beach contributed student packages, so affected students would have school supplies to finish off the year.
Elsewhere on campus, teachers worked in tandem sprucing up the appearance of the campus, and minimizing the effects of the devastating blaze, many wielding rakes, hoes and shovels to help spread out a load of donated topsoil brought in to cover the burned area.
“We couldn’t do this without the strong community support,” one of the office workers said.
Amidst all the activity, people were still getting over the shock that one of the oldest buildings at the century-old school that was standing Friday was gone Monday.
Pacita Nud, whose job is cleaning the classrooms in Building A, said she burst into tears upon viewing the damage. “I have no more classrooms to clean anymore,” she said.
Cordoned off by orange safety netting the only remnants of the burnt-down administrative building stand out starkly against the freshly laid topsoil: steps that led up to the administration building, a big kettle that welcomed people to the makai wing and the Sandy Ferreira Memory Bench.
A dozen landscape workers from the Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa arrived at the school along with a load of donated topsoil, spreading it out to dampen the effects of the fire, and to cover up earth scorched by burning walls and roofs.
- Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net. Tom Finnegan, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
Some school records missing
By The Garden Island
Due to fire damage, Kalaheo School administrators have lost some records.
While many of the records were backed up or were filed electronically, some records need to be replaced, and officials at Kalaheo School are asking for parents’ help.
All 2005-2006 kindergarten students who have already registered will need to re-register, and parents of transfer students who have already registered may need to re-register as well.
- Affected parents should call the school at 332-6801.
