Hawaii Island students return to in-person learning after Hurricane Lala damages campuses
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – More than 850 students returned to in-person learning Wednesday, two weeks after Hurricane Lala damaged two Hawaii Island public schools.
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Since Lala, the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) said Kaʻū High & Pāhala Elementary School and Nāʻālehu Elementary sustained an estimated $2.3 million in damages, as recovery and restoration work continues.
The state said Kaʻū High & Pāhala Elementary School welcomed about 500 students back to campus Monday, providing a sense of normalcy and connection amid the recovery effort.
“It’s a good release to be able to come back to school after everything that happened with Hurricane Lala,” said 11th grader Jordan Virgo. “Seeing everybody and knowing that everybody’s OK going through after what we did. It’s just really great.”
Kaʻū High & Pāhala Elementary Principal Tiffany Pratt said the Kaʻū community is strong and unified, and their students are ready to learn.
About 100 Nāʻālehu Elementary pre-K and first-grade students resumed in-person learning at Kaʻū District Gym. The school’s 365 students will attend in-person learning on a staggered schedule based on grade levels.
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Nāʻālehu’s staff had worked since Friday to turn the gym into temporary learning spaces while repairs are underway.
“I’m equally as excited as the kids are. We have kids jumping up and down,” Nāʻālehu Elementary Principal Jason Britt said. “I know my staff was ready to come back, work with the kids. I was ready to see the kids again, because this is why we do it.”
Britt added that the schedule is intended to give students regular opportunities to reconnect with their teachers and classmates and spend time learning in person.
“We’re going to have that rotation just so we can see them on a regular, get some interaction with their teachers, with their peers, get some academic time in,” he said.
HIDOE said it is also adapting meal service around the school’s return. Kaʻū High and Pāhala Elementary School have resumed regular school meals five days a week. Nāʻālehu students receive meals on the days they attend in person and take home three additional days of breakfast and lunches each week, providing five days of school meals during the staggered schedule.
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