Textbook shortage
at Kalaheo

Parents and others have formed
Operation Textbook to help out

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

At Kalaheo High School, ninth- and 10th-graders individually don't have copies of texts in English, science and social studies.

In math, most students have books that are over 10 years old. And a number of other required and elective courses such as guidance or foreign language don't have copies for every single student in each section.

Parents and others at the high school have swung Operation Textbook into work, tackling a longstanding problem in the public schools: getting textbooks into students' hands.

The group today will ask the Board of Education to establish a statewide textbook standard, establish a long-term fund to replace old textbooks and consider ways to direct more money toward the purchase of textbooks.

Shortage of textbooks has been a widespread concern at many public schools, particularly at the secondary level, said Nancy Slain, vice president of the Kalaheo Parent Teacher Student Association.

"It's critical that a minimum standard be set that every child in a course in which textbooks are used will be given his or her copy of a book."

Some classes are designed so that textbooks aren't required, but in core classes each student should have a textbook to take home, she said.

Kalaheo parents have been working with Kalaheo's new principal, Jim Schlosser, to resolve the problem but are learning that it's a statewide issue.

"It's not necessarily a problem at all schools," said Greg Knudsen, Department of Education spokesman. "We certainly don't want to discourage Operation Textbook or community involvement."

The impression that there's absolutely no money and that the department is withholding funds for textbooks is not the case, he said.

Schools are allocated basic funding based on enrollment for instructional materials and can dip into other funds to purchase textbooks, but it depends on their budget priorities.

Through school/community-based management and shared decision-making, parents concerned about the shortage of textbooks should have a role in re-examining the schools' priorities, Knudsen said.

The problem is that money that is supposed to go toward instructional materials is just not enough, said Michael W. Perry, parent of a Kalaheo junior.

"As far as I'm concerned, the definition of a school is classrooms, teachers and a bunch of books. If we're missing one of those things, there is a priority problem."

When Perry's daughter comes home with textbooks, they're "ratty and smelly -- pilau," he said.

Among the group's proposals is to revise the current statute by giving schools more leverage to reclaim the cost of lost or damaged textbooks.

If a school doesn't have textbooks, parents can ask if it's a school-level decision and, if so, what the money is being used for.

"Whenever a teacher or department head asks for textbooks, I find the money," said Gilmore Youn, principal at Kapaa High & Intermediate, where textbooks are a top priority.

Textbooks can't be replaced by the newest technology, Youn said.