Panel gives green light to 2 new charter schools

The Public Charter School Commission voted Thursday to approve the opening of two new charter schools next year on Oahu: an elementary school that would partner with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and a secondary school focused on sustainability.

Robert Witt, executive director of the Hawaiian Educational Council, teamed up with Nai­noa Thompson, president of the Voyaging Society, to propose the Malama Honua Learning Center. The Wai­ma­nalo school plans to open with 125 students in kindergarten through fourth grade and add another grade each year through eighth grade.

"There has been an enormous amount of very special and deep learning through voyaging," Thompson said in an interview after the vote. "It’s time to get it into the school system. It’s a part of the kule­ana of the canoe and its journey to support and build better learning opportunities."

The founders hope to open the school "if we have permission from that community," Thompson said. Its mission is to "provide an education that integrates the 21st-century skills and indigenous Hawaiian values that cultivate the caring, compassionate, and astute ‘mind of the navigator’ in students and teachers," according to its website.

The commission also approved a charter for the School for Examining Essential Questions of Sustainability, or SEEQS, which is seeking a location in central Hono­lulu for its campus. It plans to start with about 60 students in grades 6 and 7, and build up to 350 students in grades 6 to 12 over several years.

"We are so excited because we know that we have a great idea and a really capable team," said Buffy Cushman-Patz, founder of SEEQS.

The school will home in on real-world situations because its founders contend that students learn best when they see clear connections between what they are learning and their life experiences. The curriculum will focus on "essential questions" such as "What are the limits of growth?" and work through the lenses of science, math, English, history and the arts, according to its website.

Cushman-Patz has taught math and science in public and private schools in Hawaii and received an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship in 2010. She earned a master’s degree in geology and geophysics from the University of Hawaii and this year completed a master’s degree in school leadership at Harvard.

A team of evaluators had recommended denying the SEEQS application, but the commission reversed that decision after questions were raised about the makeup of the team and the content of its analysis. Only two of the five evaluators were from Hawaii, and one recused himself because of a conflict while the other missed the applicant interview.

"This is a school that has great potential to serve a need in the community and be successful," said Catherine Payne, vice chairwoman of the commission.

A third proposal, for a middle school on the North Shore, failed to get enough votes for approval despite impassioned testimony from members of that community. Evaluators had recommended denying the application.

Commissioners split 4-3, short of the five votes needed for approval, and sent the proposal back to the applications committee for further review. They expressed concern that the school might be too small to be financially viable.

Applications for three other proposed charter schools were denied by the commission in unanimous votes:

» Hawaii International Charter School, which would have offered Chinese language immersion during part of the school day.

» Imipono Academy, which was geared toward English language learners on the Leeward Coast.

» Kaimuki Community Adult Public Charter School, proposed after budget cuts threatened adult education programs.

Commissioners said they recognized the need for Chinese language instruction, but the proposal didn’t meet standards for opening the school.

The Kaimuki campus intended to be self-sufficient, relying on fees from students to cover its costs. But that ran counter to state law, which precludes charter schools from charging tuition.

Hawaii has 32 charter schools, educating about 10,000 students. The newest, Laupahoehoe Community Public Charter School on Hawaii island, converted from a traditional public school last fall.

Charter schools are designed as laboratories for innovation in public education. They use public funds but report to their own school boards rather than the statewide Board of Education. They are open to all students, subject to enrollment limits.

William Haft, vice president of authorizer development for the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, told commissioners to weigh not just the demand for a school, but also the question, "Is this ready to be an excellent school?"

"Charter schools that start off strong tend to stay strong," Haft said, while others tend to founder. "My primary message is that the bar is high on the front end."