As Lahaina’s three remaining public schools open to teachers today for the first time since the Aug. 8 wildfire, and their students return on a staggered schedule starting Oct. 16, state education officials announced that a new “safety plan” has been created in case of emergencies and evacuations, 300 air filters are being distributed to classrooms and offices, and each campus will have a “designated administrator” responsible for daily monitoring of air quality.

In addition, the state Department of Education is working with county and state agencies to develop a “secondary evacuation route” for the Lahaina schools as an alternate to often-gridlocked Lahainaluna Road, state Deputy schools Superintendent Tammi Chun told the state Board of Education on Wednesday.

“The target is to have something in place by the time students return after fall break,” she said.

State schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi this week acknowledged lingering concerns expressed by many families and educators about the safety of air, soil and water at Lahainaluna High, Lahaina Intermediate and Princess Nahienaena Elementary schools as they resume operations. Some have said in public meetings that even though testing has deemed the campuses safe, they still worry about contamination from the nearby burn zone, as well as risks the heavy traffic on Lahainaluna Road could pose in the event of an evacuation.

Addressing the BOE during a special meeting Wednesday, Hayashi said that “health and safety is our top priority for all of our students and staff.” He added that “extensive environmental testing” of air, water and soil has been conducted and that the state Education and Health departments are cooperating “every step of the way to ensure that our schools are safe to reopen.”

Hayashi also said the two departments have been working to “finalize health and safety guidance based on (Environmental Protection Agency) and (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) requirements that we will be releasing this week before our staff goes back to the campuses. This guidance will be supplemental to our regular emergency procedures and each school’s revised emergency action plans, which all public schools have in place.

“These revised plans will also address established alternative emergency access and exit paths,” Hayashi continued. “We know that campuses are located within a residential community with one main road in and out. Discussions are underway with state and county agencies, as well as private landowners and community leaders, to determine the best alternatives to address immediate concerns should a mass evacuation be necessary in the future.”

Each Lahaina public school will have a “designated administrator responsible for monitoring changes in air quality,” Hayashi said. “The guidance that we are finalizing and will publish this week focuses on the responsibility of the department and schools with respect to monitoring and responding to changes in air quality and wildfire threats. We will outline the actions schools will take based on corresponding air quality readings or sensors installed at all schools.”

Hayashi and Chun both indicated the safety plan would be distributed Thursday. However, Honolulu Star- Advertiser requests to the DOE on Thursday to publicly release the document were not immediately answered.

Lahainaluna High opens to students Oct. 17; Lahaina Intermediate, on Oct. 18.

On Oct. 19, Princess Nahienaena Elementary will bring back its students as well as welcome students from King Kamehameha III Elementary, which was damaged beyond repair in the Lahaina fire. The overflow of students will be accommodated for now in enclosed, air-conditioned tentlike structures until a temporary campus of portable structures for King Kamehameha III Elementary students, faculty and staff is built near Kapalua Airport.

Hayashi said a network of air quality monitors at the Lahaina schools provides hourly updates and can be viewed at fire.airnow.gov.

The DOE’s progress report on the Lahaina schools is available at 808ne.ws/3Zw0dOG. Newly added elements this week include links to technical reports for water and soil.

Meanwhile, the DOE is urging Lahaina families to complete an online survey to indicate their plans after the Lahaina schools reopen. The form can be found at surveymonkey.com/r/LahainaSchools.

Families from King Kamehameha III who don’t want their children to go to Princess Nahienaena will still have the option to enroll in the state distance learning program, “or if they want to remain in a school in Central or South Maui, they can continue to stay there,” Chun said.

To the frequent question from parents on whether buses will continue to be provided from West Maui to schools in Central and South Maui, Chun said yes, although schedules and pickup points may be altered.

Chun also said the DOE’s effort to account for every one of the 3,001 students who were pre-enrolled at the four Lahaina public schools before the Aug. 8 wildfire has made significant progress, with only 13 students now categorized as “not yet contacted.”

“We are at the point where we have achieved contact with 99.9% of the students and we have not achieved contact with 13, and we have been in communication with the FBI about the list of 13,” Chun said.

The FBI has been working with the Maui Police Department to track down people who were reported unaccounted for in the wake of the deadly Lahaina fire that killed at least 98 people and destroyed more than 2,200 structures, most of them homes.