Editorial: West Maui students need close support

A series of daunting challenges face Hawaii’s Department of Education (DOE) in the wake of the disastrous Maui fires.

>> Students, teachers and administrators who had homes in West Maui have been directly afflicted, many of them traumatized, and need immediate help.

>> Literally thousands of students who had been attending West Maui schools have not re-enrolled at a DOE school or for remote learning — and the DOE must uncover where they have gone.

>> Many parents and teachers are calling for quick action to reunite school communities within West Maui — a difficult task, because four West Maui schools are closed because of the fires (one of them, King Kamehameha III Elementary School, is damaged beyond repair).

>> Frustration is growing over the quality of communications between the DOE and those affected.

These problems aren’t easy to surmount — but neither is educating students, and the DOE must view each challenge through a student-centered lens, using every resource at its disposal to support and advance student welfare.

Task One should be to connect directly with both students and teachers who were affected by the fires, and to link those who need it with expert, tailored mental health support. While mental health services have been offered, the DOE’s method for connecting traumatized students with help has been to refer them to a website or hotline phone number that can be called. This is inadequate.

Direct, personal outreach to a child who has undergone a severely traumatic experience is far better than suggesting the injured student make a call if help is needed. Under these circumstances, where an entire town has been destroyed, lives lost and families set adrift, it’s incumbent on the DOE to do more with outreach. Live points of contact for mental health help for West Oahu students are needed.

Next, the DOE must account for the 2,025 students who had been attending Lahaina’s four public schools before the fires, and who are now unaccounted for. That’s about two-thirds of the Lahaina student body who had not enrolled in other Hawaii public schools or the state’s distance learning program as of last week. State officials have said they don’t yet know how many have left the system for private schools or the mainland, are pausing schooling, or are among those missing after the Lahaina fire.

That’s a mystery that must be resolved. With all due haste, students who have “dropped out” of receiving an education must be identified and given options to rejoin school communities.

Additionally, while it’s laudable that the DOE acted quickly to offer displaced students a place at undamaged schools, that option is clearly not best for all students. While bus service will be provided, transportation isn’t the only issue. It’s valuable for students to retain their community ties and to remain close to their friends, preserving a sense of belonging.

All who can and want to remain in West Maui to continue their schooling should have the option to do so restored as quickly as possible. Those students best served by busing to other schools — because they need access to labs or other resources, for example — should have that option.

The DOE could and should have done better on involving families and teachers in its decision-making process. At a minimum, this requires notice that decisions are afoot, reaching out for feedback, and providing tentative timelines for next meaningful steps. At best, and properly, it should involve in-person discussion.

Two public meetings on Wednesday will provide the first real chance for the DOE and those affected by the West Maui fires to share input: 9-11 a.m. at Citizen Church, 4275 Hine Way in Lahaina; and 1-3 p.m. at the Maui Arts &Cultural Center’s McCoy Studio Theater, 1 Cameron Way in Kahului. These will be important opportunities for school officials and the keiki and families they serve to move forward, together.