HANALEI — Lisa McDonald will be returning to her post as Hanalei Elementary School’s principal at the beginning of the next school year. “The decision is to keep her at the district office and continue with the temporary principal, Reiko
HANALEI — Lisa McDonald will be returning to her post as Hanalei Elementary School’s principal at the beginning of the next school year.
“The decision is to keep her at the district office and continue with the temporary principal, Reiko Beralas, for the remainder of the year,” said Donalyn Dela Cruz, director of communications for the Hawaii State Department of Education.
According to Dela Cruz, a third-party investigation found “no wrongdoing” on the part of McDonald.
McDonald was in her second year as principal of the school when she was removed from her position in September following a series of protests staged outside of the school by parents, teachers and community members.
Dela Cruz said McDonald was removed from the school when Hawaii DOE initiated an investigation into complaints against her, and at that time she was assigned to the district office.
She’s been at the district office for about four months, “mainly working on science and common core state standards, and she’s been an asset at the district office,” Dela Cruz said.
The group that worked to have McDonald removed from her position told The Garden Island in September that they thought she wasn’t qualified to be the principal. They cited a list of alleged mismanagement’s and lack of communication instances they say proves it.
“Our intention is for her to step down on her own, or for the superintendents to do their job and remove her from their school,” Katherine Wilson, current vice president of the Parent Teacher Student Association said in September. “Our children have a right to a good education and leadership is not happening.”
During the protests, McDonald told TGI she found the demonstrations “horrifying” and said she was aware of hiccups with different teachers and parents, but she was under the impression they were working together.
She has been unavailable for comment since September.
Dela Cruz said the plan is to make McDonald’s transition back to her position as natural and painless as possible for all involved.
“The main thing is to try to heal and make sure we have the right leader in place at Hanalei Elementary,” Dela Cruz said.
