More than 50 parents, educators and community leaders gathered Thursday night to brainstorm ideas for redesigning instruction at secondary schools serving Kaneohe, Kahaluu and Waiahole in hopes of boosting student achievement and getting more kids to graduation day.

The Castle-Kahuku complex education "town hall" was the kickoff of what’s expected to be a nine-month community engagement process that will end with a comprehensive plan for addressing longstanding student performance concerns at King Intermediate and Castle High.

The plan is expected to take another one to two years to implement.

The meeting, held at the Kokokahi YWCA, was aimed at drawing out innovative solutions to complex problems facing students and schools and recruiting members for a committee that will help draft the final plan.