Kuuipo Laumatia hopes to open a public charter school in Wahiawa that features a so-called arts-integration curriculum for children who may not fit the traditional mode of learning.
Kamalani Academy is proposing nine classrooms with about 250 students in kindergarten to eighth grade and nine teachers at the former Our Lady of Sorrows School on California Avenue. If the application is approved by the state Public Charter School Commission this year, Laumatia said she hopes to open the school in August 2017 with the goal to expand to grades nine to 12 and to other areas islandwide.
Kamalani had submitted an application last year proposing a public charter school in Hawaii Kai for 350 students in kindergarten to sixth grade. But the commission voted to reject the application, saying that it did not provide clear details of how arts would be integrated into curriculum and how student outcomes would be measured.
Laumatia, Kamalani’s board chairwoman, said they sought a smaller site in Wahiawa and revamped their application to include a more detailed curriculum. Laumatia, a Wahiawa resident who raised 10 children with her husband, touted the area as a great location with diverse demographics that an arts education can cater to. Laumatia also emphasized Wahiawa’s importance in Hawaiian history and culture.
Curriculum, which would be modeled after that of Pomaikai Elementary School on Maui, helps students connect an art form such as drama, dance, music or fine arts to a subject area. There are no public charter schools in Wahiawa and Whitmore Village, according to the state Department of Education’s website.
Kamalani officials are in the process of negotiating a lease on the proposed site and will receive funding for renovations and other facility repairs from a mainland company that provides money to startup charter schools.
“We’re familiar with both the opportunities and challenges of both private and public school education,” Laumatia said. “We couldn’t find that place that would allow (children) to learn and grow the way they needed to. I’m the one that had the initial vision (of Kamalani Academy), but it’s not hard for others to come together on.”
The Wahiawa/Whitmore Village Neighborhood Board voted to support Kamalani Academy at a meeting last month. Silvia Koch, the board’s education committee chairwoman, said after the meeting that she likes the idea because it provides children with another educational option in Wahiawa.
“It’s very difficult to put charter schools in a box,” said Koch of the difficulty in detailing a curriculum for arts-integration programs. “I think Wahiawa needs a charter school like that. I see great things in store for them.”
Koch, a Kipapa Elementary School counselor, said she hopes Kamalani officials have talked to the neighbors around the proposed site and will continue to inform the community on the school’s progress.
Kamalani has also garnered praise from state Rep. Marcus Oshiro, who sent a letter of support to the commission. Oshiro (D, Wahiawa-Whitmore-Poamoho) said he is not concerned that Kamalani’s application was denied last year, adding that the process is rigorous.
Yvonne Lau, the commission’s chief operations officer, said Kamalani was one of seven charter schools that submitted applications by the Feb. 12 deadline. She said the commission will not take into account Kamalani’s denied application last year.
“In terms of the application itself, we consider the application that was submitted every year independent of the prior application,” Lau said. “We don’t take into account what happens last time.”
Public hearings on this year’s charter school applications are slated for May and final decisions are typically made in August.
