Community objects to plan to close Likelike Elementary

Parents, community members and school officials vowed Friday to rally support for Likelike Elementary, the latest public school proposed for closing as part of a cost-cutting review.

"We’re going to try everything to keep this school open," said Kris Nakaoka, a kindergarten teacher at the Kalihi campus, adding that it has a diverse student body and a large population of disadvantaged students who need strong support.

"There are generations of families who have gone through this school. They need this school here," she said.

A decision on Likelike is likely months away, but the process is moving forward. On Tuesday, the Board of Education is scheduled to vote on whether to hold a public hearing on consolidation plans for the McKinley complex, to which Likelike belongs.

Comments gathered at the hearing will be used to guide the board in its final decision.

Likelike, with about 370 children, is the only school in the complex being considered for closing, according to a consolidation report prepared by the Department of Education. If the school is shuttered, students would be sent to Kauluwela, Kaiulani and Lanakila elementary schools, boosting enrollment at those campuses by 100 students or more and, parents say, requiring students to walk longer distances.

Lanakila Elementary would see the largest jump in enrollment, increasing 141 students to 583. Kaiulani’s enrollment would go up to 548 from 420 this school year, while Kauluwela would get about 97 more students, increasing enrollment to 463.

The department estimates that closing Likelike would save about $1 million a year. Its teachers would follow their students to other area schools.

The department’s review of the McKinley complex is the latest step in a statewide plan to determine whether small schools can be consolidated to save money. Shuttering Likelike would bump up to three the number of campuses closed as part of the cost-cutting push.

Liliuokalani Elementary in Kaimuki was closed in May, sending about 100 students to neighboring schools. Also closed as part of the review were Wailupe Elementary and a one-room schoolhouse on Maui. But eight schools have been spared after consolidation reviews, including two on Oahu’s North Shore, two in east Honolulu and two in Kalihi.

Likelike Principal Kelly Bart said the school plans to hold a meeting for parents this month to talk about how they can rally support to keep the campus open. He added the shutdown would not only affect its own students, but neighboring schools.

"We are talking about an impact on student achievement," Bart said.

He also pointed out the department’s own consolidation study for the McKinley complex says the optimal size for an elementary school is about 300 to 400 students.

About 84 percent of students at Likelike are economically disadvantaged, while one-third are English as a second language learners. Those percentages are in line with what the three other area schools that would take Likelike students have.

Bart said his concern is that Likelike has built a strong relationship with its families, something that would be lost if students had to move.

"I’m not real sure … how much of the relationship that we’ve been able to develop would carry on to the other schools," he said. "We’re trying to tell them (parents) to keep the faith."

Bart added that he understands the need for a consolidation review, given the dire economic times.

"The department has taken huge cuts in the last two or three years," he said, adding it is "a little scary a school with 400 students is now being targeted."

On Friday, many parents had just heard the news of the possible closing. Several were shock, while others said they weren’t surprised, given discussion of consolidation in other complexes and the continuing economic crisis.

Rita Bailey shook her head when she found out, while picking up her children after classes Friday.

"Why would they close an elementary school?" she asked.

Sharon Maave, who works at Likelike’s afterschool program, said the school is grappling with the news even as it celebrates improvement in test scores over the past several years.

"I think it’s so sad," Maave said.

Though Likelike has made progress, its scores are lower than those of the three campuses where Likelike students would go if the school closes, according to the department’s consolidation report.

About 55 percent of students were proficient in reading and math at Likelike in the school year that just ended, and the school did not make adequate yearly progress benchmarks under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Gloria Anagaran, 19, who was picking up her two cousins at the school Friday, said Likelike is a supportive school for a tight-knit community. She also thinks of the school fondly because she attended classes there, as did her sister.

"The community is great," she said.

Of the possible closing, she added, "I’m not agreeing with."