Homelessness problem besets Waipahu school

Every morning, Vice Principal Howard Chi makes his rounds on campus. Often, he finds water taps running and dirty bars of soap left behind. People come to bathe and sleep at the school at night. There have been break-ins and broken pipes. Sometimes, there’s human feces on the sidewalks fronting classrooms.

Waipahu Intermediate, the little school being dwarfed by rail construction, is also fending off Oahu’s out-of-control homeless problem.

The back side of the campus abuts an overgrown marsh that the students call “The Jungle.” There are homeless camps hidden there.

“During the day they do not enter campus, however, on a nightly basis there are up to seven individuals who take shelter on campus,” Chi said in an email. “Broken water spigots and broken-into bathrooms are common as the homeless try to access water.”

In March, Waipahu Intermediate English teacher MaryAnn Johnson put her frustrations into a letter. She had, on several occasions, come to school extra early to prepare for her classes and was startled by homeless people sleeping outside her classroom. Johnson wrote about being afraid for herself and her students.

Her letter to the editor ran in the April 10 edition of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. State Sen. Clarence Nishihara (D, Waipahu-Pearl City) read the piece and showed up at the school that same day. Nishihara, a former teacher who had once worked on that campus, went to see what he could do.

“In a way, I can’t blame the homeless people,” Nishihara said. “They’re looking for a safe place to shelter.”

Chi showed the senator all the places on campus that have been affected by the situation.

“It is not uncommon for the homeless to defecate and urinate on our sidewalks and in the bushes,” Chi said.

For the most part, the homeless people are not on campus during the school day, but there have been a number of times when the school has had to call the police to get the homeless to leave when students were present.

“It’s clear what’s needed is a comprehensive, multiagency approach,” Nishihara said. “We can’t just be pushing them out and moving them somewhere else. That’s not a solution. We need to help these people find shelter and get social services.”

Since Nishihara’s visit to campus, school administrators have been meeting with the city, state agencies and the Navy, which owns some of the land around the campus. The school is working with the Department of Public Safety to have inmates cut back the jungle behind campus. The cleanup should also help with the recent rash of fires — one of which brought flames to within 30 feet of campus.

The school has sent notes to parents asking them not to drop off kids too early. The school’s security staff starts work at 6:45 a.m., but some students show up as early as 6.

“Is it a safety issue? Of course it is. This has everything to do with the safety, health and welfare of our students,” Chi said. “Before education can take place, students must feel safe on campus. It is our duty to ensure that safety is the top priority.”

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.