On August 9, five prominent Hawaii leaders
attacked the credibility of Bishop Estate
trustees in an essay, “Broken Trust.”
Today, five respected educators single out
“lead trustee” for education, Lokelani Lindsey,
for “egregious abuse of power.”

Read the full text in today's
Editorial section, online.

She denies charges,
calls the criticism unfair

By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsey intimidated students, mistreated faculty and bypassed teachers' input on management decisions that have a long-lasting impact on the schools, according to an essay by five prominent local educators.

Lindsey yesterday denied the charges, calling criticism of her work at Kamehameha Schools unfair.

The essay, released yesterday, was written by ex-Punahou School President Roderick McPhee; former Kamehameha School for Girls Principal Gladys Brandt; Hawaiiana consultant Nona Beamer; Winona Rubin, former director of the state Department of Human Services; and Isabella Abbott, University of Hawaii botany professor.

The authors called for the removal of Lindsey and fellow trustees Richard Wong, Henry Peters and Gerard Jervis, saying they allowed Lindsey "to terrorize the school."

"As educators, we are appalled by developments at Kamehameha Schools since the appointment of Lokelani Lindsey as 'lead trustee' for education," the five authors wrote. "What was a climate of mutual respect and trust became one of fear and intimidation."

The educators did not call for the removal of trustee Oswald Stender. Stender has said that Jervis should not be removed.

The essay is a follow-up to the "Broken Trust" article which appeared in the Star-Bulletin in August.

The original essay alleged mismanagement of the estate's assets and prompted state Attorney General Margery Bronster to open an investigation into trustees' stewardship of the charitable trust, worth an estimated $10 billion.

'Vocal minority' blamed

Lindsey yesterday said she is being singled out unfairly for the turmoil at the Kamehameha Schools' Kapalama Heights campus. She said she's taking steps to improve the education standards at the schools and in so doing has been targeted by a "vocal minority" resistant to change.

She cited one allegation raised by the latest "Broken Trust" essay that she had demanded recently that all Kamehameha Schools kindergarten students be able to identify all five Bishop Estate trustees by Christmas. She said the story just is not true.

Trustee Wong denied using an expletive during a recent songfest, an allegation also raised in the essay.

The latest "Broken Trust" essay comes as the estate is facing intense scrutiny from federal and state authorities.

IRS investigating, too

Besides Bronster's investigation, the Internal Revenue Service is conducting an audit of the estate, and retired Judge Patrick Yim, the court-appointed fact finder, has been looking into allegations of mismanagement at the school level.

The estate's special master, Colbert Matsumoto, also is reviewing the estate's overall operations for its 1994-1995 fiscal year and plans to complete that report in January.

In his report for the 1993-1994 fiscal year, Matsumoto faulted the estate's "lead trustee" system, which delegates authorities of trustees to various subject matters. Matsumoto said the system may violate the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

The authors of the new "Broken Trust" article echoed Matsumoto's findings when they said that Lindsey, the estate's lead trustee for education, usurped school president Michael Chun's authority and assigned his duties to Rockne Freitas, hired in 1995 as vice president of Kamehameha Schools.

They claim that Freitas is a surrogate for Lindsey.

Chun had no comment. Lindsey said she and Chun are on friendly terms and noted that Chun and Freitas grew up together. Lindsey added that Chun initially interviewed Freitas when he was hired.

"I like Dr. Chun. People don't realize that," Lindsey said. "I really think he cares."

Defends program cuts

The authors also faulted trustees for terminating Kamehameha Schools' early education and outreach programs two years ago without receiving input from faculty members.

The move eliminated 171 jobs and damaged school morale, they said.

But Lindsey said the decision, unanimous among trustees, allowed the estate to save $11 million. She added that management, not staffers, should be setting the educational goals of the schools.

"Employees of the Coca-Cola company do not determine how many bottles of Coca-Cola must be produced each year. That's a management decision," she said.

The authors of the latest essay were critical Lindsey's "top-down" management philosophy, saying it was destined to fail since faculty members don't feel they have a vested interested.

Climate of fear

Worse yet, it harbors a climate of fear, they said, citing an incident last year involving Lindsey and former student body President Kamani Kuala'au, a Chun supporter.

Lindsey ordered Kuala'au from the campus to her offices at Kawaiahao Plaza and questioned him for more than two hours after he raised concerns that Chun may be fired.

Lindsey made "a thinly disguised threat" to Kuala'au, now a student at Princeton University, saying she would not dream of telling Princeton's administrators that Kuala'au was a rabble rouser, according to the authors. He could not be reached for comment.

"Such an egregious abuse of power flies in the face of educational norms and common decency," the authors said. "If Lindsey had done nothing else, this alone would warrant her removal as a trustee."

Lindsey said her comments were simply misinterpreted. She said she told Kuala'au that trustees weren't considering firing Chun. She said she simply was telling Kuala'au not to jump to conclusions and was using a hypothetical analogy to illustrate a point.

She said she was comparing allegations that trustees were going to fire Chun to her calling Princeton's administrators and telling them that he was a rabble rouser. Lindsey said she would never call Princeton's administrators, and said she went so far as to award Kuala'au a $1,000 scholarship that's given each year to outstanding Maui students.

"If I was vindictive, he wouldn't get anything. But I love this kid," Lindsey said. "I still have a lot of aloha for Kamani."

---

Read the full text in today's
Editorial section, online.

Bishop Estate Archive

---

Psychologist helped
shape school policy

Essayists question his ability
to evaluate Kamehameha Schools

By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

Paul Ahr might not be well known at Kamehameha Schools' Kapalama Heights campus, but the St. Louis, Mo.-based psychologist has helped shape the schools' educational policies.

As president of the Corporate Psychology Center Inc., Ahr played a major role in developing Kamehameha Schools' recently unveiled strategic plan, which spells out the schools' educational and organizational goals into the next decade.

Corporate Psychology Center and the national accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP recommended eliminating Kamehameha School's outreach programs two years ago.

Cutting the outreach programs -- which included preschool education, continuing adult education and alternative education for troubled youths -- saved the estate some $11 million and helped fund campus construction on the Big Island and Maui.

But some say the reductions, which eliminated some 170 jobs, are a factor in the current turmoil that's engulfed Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate.

Critics questioned whether Ahr has the educational background to evaluate Kamehameha Schools' programs. They believe that Corporate Psychology Center and Ernst & Young virtually excluded faculty members when they went about establishing the schools' strategic plan.

"I haven't heard anything good about him from the people at Kamehameha Schools," said Roderick McPhee, former president of Punahou School and one of the co-authors of an essay in today's Star-Bulletin criticizing trustees' management of Kamehameha Schools.

"I don't know what he has to offer (Kamehameha Schools) and how they came about selecting him."

Ahr did not return calls from the Star-Bulletin yesterday. An associate at his St. Louis office said he was on vacation.

Trustee Oswald Stender said he began to question contracts with Corporate Psychology Center in board meetings about a year ago. Stender, who advocated saving the outreach programs, said he felt that much of the work that the company did for Kamehameha Schools could be conducted by people already on staff.

According to a Star-Bulletin review of the trust's expenditures, Corporate Psychology Center billed the estate about $270,000 for the two years ending June 30, 1996.

"My concern is the cost is climbing and the information was available through our people," said Stender. "His background in education was limited."

According to news reports, Ahr served as director of Missouri's Department of Mental Health during the early 1980s and was once president of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors.

In 1990, he served as Ernst & Young's national adviser for mental health and helped evaluate the Hawaii State Hospital. Three years later, Ahr helped supervised a library satisfaction survey that Ernst & Young conducted for the state library system.

Trustee Lokelani Lindsey, who is in charge of Kamehameha School's education programs, defended work by Ahr and Ernst & Young, saying the estate is receiving its money's worth, since their studies offered trustees an objective analysis of programs that worked or didn't work.

One of their studies found that the schools were paying $2.1 million for a traveling preschool program in which students were attending an average of five days of a 76-day session, Lindsey said.

The program was eventually cut.

Lindsey believes that people are unfair in criticizing the auditors' work because their recommendations were not favorable to some employees.

She added that Stender and fellow Trustee Gerard Jervis initially supported the hiring of the auditors a couple of years ago, offering her congratulatory kisses.

But two weeks later, she said she was "bad-mouthed" for the move.

"Never had this happened in Kamehameha Schools history and it was hard for a lot of people to take," she said of the decision to eliminate the outreach programs.

"But it was necessary in order to meet the needs of students."

Read the full text in today's
Editorial section, online.

---

Bishop Estate Archive