By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Crystal Ferreira looks at the sign at Waianae Mall
saying she can't enterduring school hours unless
she has an off-campus pass.

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Waianae firms
send kids
to school

Businesses post signs telling children
they can't enter during school hours,
in an effort to cut absenteeism

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

Hyok Song Kwon, owner of the Maili Pink Market, shoos students away when they walk into his store during school hours.

"You guys go school -- I call the cops," he warns them.

Maili Pink Market is among dozens of establishments on the Waianae Coast where signs have been popping up, turning away youngsters who should be in school.

On any given day, one out of eight students at seven Waianae schools is playing hooky, principals say.

The Waianae Rotary Club and business owners from Kahe Point to Makaha are hoping such efforts will discourage students from cutting class.

In a 1996 study by the University of Hawaii, schools in the Waianae complex had the highest rates of absenteeism in the state, said Cheryl Kaneshiro, coordinator of Project Impact, a federally funded program to improve school attendance in Waianae.

Waianae principals have estimated that at least 900 of 7,300 students are absent each school day.

Project Impact knew it had to enlist the help of the community.

The signs are just one of the ways they hope to raise community awareness.

"With 900 kids out in the community, someone must see them on the beaches, stores or restaurants," Kaneshiro said. "It's everyone's business in getting them to school and to stay in school."

While it may be too early to see the impact the signs have had, some business owners say the signs are proving to be somewhat of a deterrent.

The signs began surfacing at 7-Elevens, fast-food restaurants, supermarkets and clothing and surf shops in late August informing students that they won't be allowed on the premises during school hours unless they have an off-campus pass.

Jeans Warehouse salesclerk Leona Tafiti continues to see school-age teens around the mall during school hours. Sometimes she sees them reading the sign posted outside the clothing store where she works before they walk away.

"I think it helps deter students from hanging out at the mall," she said.

Manager Lee Batara makes sure school kids comply with the signs posted in the Waianae Burger King restaurant.

"No matter if we don't get sales -- I want them to be in school," said Batara.

The schools provide her with their year-round modified schedules so she knows when students are supposed to be in school and when they're not.

"They get mad but I explain to them," she said. Most leave. If they're disruptive, Batara calls mall security.

Not everyone is convinced the signs help in actually curbing absenteeism.

Waianae freshman Ashley Angel's mom sent her to Maili Pink Market once when she stayed home from school, but she was turned away.

While the signs may keep some teens away, it won't stop them from cutting class, Angel said. "They'll just go cruise somewhere else."

Stricter attendance policies at Waianae schools and attendance monitors who contact and work with parents of chronically absent students appear to be having an effect.

The numbers of students with perfect attendance have been steadily growing in the Waianae schools, Kaneshiro said. The schools also have seen slight declines in the number of unexcused absences.

The elementary schools hope to encourage daily attendance by posting banners on campus visible to the community, recognizing homerooms that achieve 95 percent attendance.

Project Impact is working with the Waianae High video production class to tape and produce posters of role models talking about the importance of being in school.

An after-school program being developed at Waianae High will be targeting students who fail ninth grade, the level at which educators see a high number of academic failures, suspensions and absences.

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Waianae residents,
officials work to remedy
school traffic dangers

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

Lualualei Homestead Road is a bad location traffic-wise for Leihoku Elementary School.

City Councilman John DeSoto, who represents the Waianae Coast, says the school shouldn't have been built there.

Although traffic woes and safety concerns abound around Leihoku Elementary, no clear-cut consensus emerged at a traffic-calming workshop, attended by 50 people last week, on how to improve things.

DeSoto acknowledged traffic concerns have been neglected in part because of city-state disagreement over jurisdiction.

This seems to have been settled now with the city taking responsibility for the road and the state providing some funds, he said. "We know why we're here -- because we're frustrated and nothing gets done," he said. "The squeaking wheel gets the grease."

That's why Waianae has to make its wishes known, DeSoto said.

The community must come together and speak as one, he said.

"Here is an opportunity," he added. "We finally got down to one jurisdiction."

That's the city Department of Transportation Services, DeSoto said. "They are the ones who will listen."

DeSoto thanked volunteers for helping children safely cross busy Lualualei Homestead Road.

But no shortage of complaints came out at the meeting, and no lack of blame was voiced against government inaction -- so much so, that Transportation Director Joe Magaldi and consultant Michael Wallwork, traffic engineer and president of Alternate Street Design, didn't finish a presentation on suggested remedies.

"We're up to here," said Eileen Machado, a school safety volunteer. "We're so frustrated." But she acknowledged some optimism after the meeting. If progress is made, the community will be receptive, she said.

Magaldi agreed to look into such residents' complaints as cars going through yards, close calls occurring when schoolchildren dart out from between parked cars, a need for pedestrian-activated traffic signals and a need to require the school to close some schoolyard gates to discourage students from crossing Lualualei Homestead Road at hazardous spots.

Traffic islands to narrow the road and slow traffic at a bend in Lualualei Homestead Road were about the only city recommendations to get support.

"We can try to put in a crosswalk; slow the traffic down around the school," Magaldi said.

Other suggestions included finding an alternative route to Lualualei Homestead Road for semitractor-trailer rigs and allowing those parents who drop off and pick up children to park on the school grounds or on a nearby land parcel.

Magaldi said he would work on that with the school safety committee.

"We've got to work together as a team," Richard Kaaloa, a nearby resident, said after the meeting.