• Appreciates KIUC efforts • Know the zoning • Forgive us our sins • Nice place Appreciates KIUC efforts Response to Barbara Elmore’s comments on Island School and the recent KIUC Board approval of a rural community grant request (“Lessons
• Appreciates KIUC efforts
• Know the zoning
• Forgive us our sins
• Nice place
Appreciates KIUC efforts
Response to Barbara Elmore’s comments on Island School and the recent KIUC Board approval of a rural community grant request (“Lessons from KIUC,” Letters, July 5):
I am a product of the local public school system and so are my children. I have worked for a major local bank, a large plantation company, and some small business firms after attending an Oahu community college. I am actively involved in community service on Kauai and have been the business manager at Island School for eight years.
The grant request approved by the KIUC board was not a gift. The request still must be approved by the USDA as part of their rural community development program. If approved, Island School would receive a $300,000 interest-free loan that must be paid back to KIUC for re-use by commercial or not-for-profit organizations. Island School applied for the funds in order to complete a new gym, Hawaiian Cultural Center, and a new access roadway that will also benefit Kauai Community College.
Island School was not started by transients from the Mainland but began over 30 years ago by a group of parents seeking educational options for their children. It has since become a respected college preparatory school. We are not funded by any government subsidies. Our parents must pay for tuition, books, lunch, and other fees, while paying taxes that subsidize public schools, as all of us do, even if we have no children in school. Private school students actually save the state from having to fund their education, leaving more for the public student population. A great number of our students are “local,” from families electing to make that choice. Island School also provides financial aid to about 40 percent of our student population. Our pockets are not deep; believe me, I keep the financial books.
As a private school, our board of directors (who serve without compensation), decided long ago to make its facility available to part of the general community, providing resources and a meeting place for local organizations like the Boy Scouts, church groups, athletic groups, youth groups, adult workshops, and the E Kanikapila Hawaiian music program, at little or no cost to these organizations. Our faculty and staff are outstanding, and they receive a profound sense of satisfaction in what they are doing — educating the children of Kauai.
I appreciate KIUC for supporting Island School. In doing so, it is also benefiting the larger community of Kaua‘i. I also support the freedom of choice — to choose between public and private school.
Mike Goto
Lihu‘e
Know the zoning
Regarding recent Letters to the Editor by Michael Mann, “Just enforce the law,” Letters, July 2, and David Au “Vacation rental watch?” Letters, July 5.
Before you, and others I’ve seen writing here, deride the lack of enforcement of the zoning laws, maybe you should educate yourself by actually reading the Kauai County Zoning Ordinance (CZO). That is the zoning law that governs transient vacation rental units (TVRs). The CZO defines TVRs as “rentals in a multi-unit building for visitors over the course of one (1) or more years, with the duration of occupancy less than thirty (30) days for the transient occupant.” The key words here are multi-unit building, i.e. bed & breakfast-type operations with more than one rental unit under roof. It, therefore, does not cover in any manner, single family residences, i.e. single unit residences, used for transient rental. Lawyers on both sides of the issue agree that single family vacation rental units are not restricted to VDAs simply because the existing zoning laws do not address them. Hence, the current council initiative to change the zoning laws to include and regulate them. So, to say that they are illegal is misleading and simply incorrect. Please do some homework on this important issue.
P. Keat
Makaweli
Forgive us our sins
Apparently, according to Barbara Elmore (“Lessons from KIUC,” Letters, July 5), our family has committed the twin sins of both having moved from the Mainland and having a child in private school. A little Mainlander background. We lived in upstate New York in an 800-square-foot home we rebuilt by hand, with heat provided by wood stove thank you, and I worked in a fine art bronze casting foundry while my wife stayed home to raise our two boys. As a friend once remarked, we had just a dandy time starving. So both of us returned to school and became registered nurses, in the process accruing huge student loan debt. But to us education is an investment, not a burden. Now we live on Kaua‘i in an 1,100-square-foot, 20-year-old house with a postage stamp yard and we love it. This is not our second home, it is our only home. We pay for college for one son (more student loans!) and Island School for the other. This is not a sacrifice for us, it’s why we went back to school ourselves, to allow us to do the same for our children. Is that idea out of line? Sure, there are some wealthy families at Island School. Most of them have businesses here on Kaua‘i, many have been here at least 20 years, and some for generations. Because of donations above and beyond full tuition that these families and family owned businesses, and Kaua‘i based corporations give to Island School, which is a non-profit entity, it can offer need based financial aid for less financially well off families. Other families choose home schooling because they believe it provides a better learning environment for their children. The key is whether private school, public school, or home-schooling is the best place for your particular child. Also, bear in mind that regardless of where our children go to school, we still pay for public school through our state and federal taxes. Most children do just fine in the public schools, many go on to Mainland colleges, many others to the University of Hawaii system or colleges on O‘ahu. Others do better in a private school or with home-schooling. Those decisions are best left in the hands of the family, depending on the needs of the child and the commitment to education the family provides whether in a public, private, or home school setting.
Kurt Rutter
Kapa‘a
Nice place
We are from Las Vegas, on a three week hiatus of life, visiting our mom (aka tutu). We felt compelled to write a letter to the paper letting the residents of this island know what a wonderful place in the world you have. The celebration (Concert in the sky) yesterday was outstanding. Great food, activities for the kids and wonderful entertainment. The patriotism was in place, the fireworks with the music was a great show, and to know that our money spent was helping someone, somewhere in need was a good feeling.
We love your island. Please do not lose sight of what you have here, treasure and protect it as much as possible.
Thanks again to the residents for making this a wonderful place to visit.
The Block Family
Las Vegas
