By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Bishop Estate trustee Gerard Jervis testified today that
he was “very angry” when fellow trustee Lokelani
Lindsey released a report critical of Kamehameha Schools.
Jervis,
in court,
rips Lindsey
The trustee says Lindsey
By Rick Daysog
did not have board approval to
release her controversial report
Star-BulletinBishop Estate trustee Gerard Jervis this morning testified that fellow trustee Lokelani Lindsey did not have board approval last year to release her controversial report criticizing students' academic performances.
Jervis, the first trustee to take the witness stand in the 2-month-old trial over Lindsey's removal, said Lindsey never told board members that she planned to release a report that would criticize Kamehameha Schools students.
Jervis said Lindsey released the report after the estate's court-appointed fact-finder Patrick Yim told trustees privately that he would recommend Lindsey's removal as lead trustee of the estate's educational program.
"I was very angry," said Jervis. "I said, 'Loke, what are you doing? Why is the report coming out now on the 11th hour?'"
The so-called Lindsey report, released to the local media in December 1997, alleged that the longer students remained at the estate-run Kamehameha Schools, the more their test scores suffered. The report also said that more than 30 graduating seniors of the class of 1997 could barely read at 12th-grade levels.
Jervis and fellow trustee Oswald Stender are seeking Lindsey's ouster from the trust's five-member board, saying she breached her fiduciary duties, mismanaged the schools, and intimidated students and staffers.
They argue that the Lindsey report is inaccurate and was designed to deflect blame from the Yim report, which alleged that Lindsey managed by intimidation and fostered an environment of favoritism at the Kapalama Heights campus.
Lindsey's attorneys have argued that their client received board permission to release her study. They allege that Lindsey has been unfairly criticized because she attempted to improve the school's educational programs.
Jervis today testified that when Lindsey asked fellow trustees if she could tell her side of the story, he was under the impression that Lindsey would meet with members of the Kamehameha ohana to address concerns over micromanagement of the schools.
She did not say that she would discuss student test scores or that she would release information that was damaging to school morale, he said. Jervis's testimony was to continue this afternoon.
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