My feelings on the matter...

I am so sick of hearing everyone shouting and mad about fictional Laupahoehoe Charter School plans. Rumors need to stop being spread, and people need to look for the facts in official places instead of listening to a few loud mouths spreading their version of how the Charter works. Please do yourself a favor, read the documents that are legally true. There is a website:
www.laupahoehoecharterschool.com
which has all you need to know about everything Charter. These documents such as the "DIP" are legal. They are FACT.

For those who want a way to catch up on news by way of lighter reading, please read this recent update letter from the board:
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Happy New Year!

Here's an update on what is happening with the charter school.

The news everyone has seen in the papers is that the Charter School Review Panel (CSRP), which is the group that oversees charter schools, has decided to delay the opening of Laupahoehoe Community Public Charter School for a year. 

The opening of any new charter school has already been delayed a year due to internal CSRP difficulties. This additional delay for our school again places the federal grant money, so carefully shepherded during the difficult application process, at risk. This money was awarded to refurbish our auto and wood shops with up-to-date equipment, reopen the kitchen cooking stations, provide essential teacher training for the innovative, hands-on, "project based" approach of the school and more.

For this reason we are again appealing to the Board of Education (BOE) to help our school by allowing us to move forward with the transition year in July 2012. 

And what does the transition year mean? Exactly that! It is a year where the new charter program can be introduced gradually so that staff can be trained in new procedures, teachers can attend "project-based" educational workshops, and new community contributors can become familiar with the staff and students.

There is still much misinformation circulating in the community that should be put to rest.

#1 There will be sports!! Athletics are part of the new school plan! Charter schools can compete in sports with DOE public schools and Laupahoehoe will continue to do so. (Some charter schools have chosen not to focus on sports but on science or art and did not write sports into their plan.) Our community knows that sports is an excellent road to character building, team work, mind and body development, community spirit and fun. "Hands-on" learning like sports is exactly what the charter plan is all about.

#2 There is enough money to run the school!!
Money to run the school comes from the State and the Federal Government like the present school because Laupahoehoe School remains a public school. The charter school budget will be very close to the DOE budget and purchasing procedures are managed locally, not dictated by the State’s procurement process. Also, charter schools have the great advantage of being able to raise extra money through grants and partnerships.

There is already a dedicated non-profit organization, Hui Kako'o O Laupahoehoe working on raising additional money and resources.

#3 Busing will continue as usual.

#4 Teachers are encouraged to stay. In the proposed budgets for the transition year 2012/13 and full charter year 2013/14 and beyond, there are no teaching positions removed. There are many fine teachers loved by the students and community. Teachers who are interested in staying once the school changes governance are encouraged to apply. 

It is the intention for the school to add jobs in the coming years as the innovative program takes hold and student enrollment increases. Because of the state funding formula, positions have been lost every year at the school. Hawaii Charter Schools are thriving; none have failed and most have waiting lists. A Laupahoehoe High student who elected to transfer to a charter school a couple years ago despite living close to LHES says that he finds learning easier in his charter school environment where teachers play more of a mentorship role than one of a lecturer.

Laupahoehoe's transition year will begin with 1-week Outward Bound-type outdoor leadership programs for high school students. The programs will teach backcountry travel skills while using the natural world as a living classroom environment for geology, ecology and forest management instruction.

Aloha,
Niki Hubbard, ILSB President

Any questions? Email us at info@laupahoehoecharterschool.com.
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Please share any thoughts and opinions you may have on these ongoing issues.


Thanks,
Will Montgomerie
A Concerned Alumnus