School’s documents seized over concerns on spending

Attorney General’s Office staffers armed with a search warrant seized records from the financially ailing Halau Lokahi Public Charter School on Tuesday for an investigation into expenditures.

The investigation comes in response to concerns raised by the state Charter School Commission. Executive Director Tom Hutton said the commission has "serious questions" about expenditures amounting to an estimated $100,000 from fiscal year 2013-2014, when the Kalihi school was in financial distress.

Hutton said the school had documentation problems and that that could mean there were legitimate expenditures but they were not well documented. Nevertheless, the commission referred the matter to the Attorney General’s Office as well as the state Ethics Commission to seek answers.

Supervising Deputy Attorney General Christopher Young said records were obtained from the school Tuesday. He declined to disclose details of the investigation.

A school co-director at Halau Lokahi declined to comment.

The financially strapped school recently underwent changes to stay in operation. Before the end of the last school year, Halau Lokahi had a debt of $502,000 and stopped paying its rent and staff.

The Charter School Commission voted Nov. 13 to accept a restructuring plan that calls for the school to cut payroll costs in half. Under the plan, Halau Lokahi’s new governing board would lay off its entire staff of 18 by the end of the school semester and replace it with a smaller staff before the school reopens Jan. 5.

The school has 159 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. About 100 students attend the Kalihi school, while the remaining study online.

A new governing board was appointed during the summer to replace the previous board and to come up with a financial plan for what is left of the current academic year. The commission also required the school to replace its director, Laara Allbrett.

One new board member, however, decided to step down Nov. 17, partly because, he says, the school may not have fully disclosed the extent of the financial plight.

Board member Jeremy Kama Hopkins said in an email to the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser, "During the course of the meeting, as had been the case throughout my term on the board, we found that information about our finances and financial situation may not have been fully disclosed to us. Coupled with some other board dynamic issues, I felt that it was time for me to step down."

Two other members from the new board, Keone Nunes and Andre Perez, also stepped down, Hopkins said. The reasons for their departures are unknown, he said.

One of the two remaining board members, Fay Uyeda, could not be reached for comment. Hopkins said he hopes the remaining board members can carry out the restructuring plan through to the end.