Mother irate
that son’s attackers
are back in school

A Maui boy, 13, suffered
a pancreas injury when
assaulted by 4 students

By Gary Kubota
Maui correspondent

Lynn Awai-Tavares does not believe the four students who attacked her son should be allowed to return to school after only five days' suspension.

The boys, age 14, are scheduled to return to Kalama Intermediate School on Maui as early as today.

Three of them were arrested and released, pending further investigation of felony assault, Maui police said.

Cody Awai-Tavares, being treated for a swollen pancreas, remains in Kapiolani Medical Center. "He's not able to return to school, so I don't think they should be able to return to school either," his mother said. "They don't realize what damage they've done to his body and his family."

Kalama, which serves upcountry Maui including Makawao, Kula, Pukalani and Haiku, has one of the largest student enrollments for an intermediate school in the state, with 1,120 students.

Awai-Tavares said her son, who is unable to eat because of problems with his pancreas, is being fed intravenously, and tubes are connected to his stomach to withdraw stomach acids.

She said her 13-year-old son, wasn't feeling well and was resting after lunch on Nov. 17, when four boys approached him and one of them suggested kicking the "fat boy."

She said her son told school officials he wasn't feeling well after the attack but that they took an hour before calling her so she could take him to the hospital.

School principal Stephen Yamada said that, based on an investigation by a vice principal, the school determined that five days of suspension was appropriate.

Yamada said the boys allegedly involved in the attack had no record of previous assaults.

"They're not problem students. It was an isolated incident," he said. "It's not like we have bunches of students beating up people."

Yamada said the school is hoping Cody will have a quick recovery and is circulating a get-well card on his behalf.

He said Cody showed no visible signs of injury when he walked into the counselor's office, and that an assessment took place to determine his injuries before his mother was called.

"There were no signs of any bruises...but he did complain of having pain on his side," Yamada said.

Yamada said that soon after the incident, the boys, who were in an "out-of-bounds area," were told to return to supervised areas.

Yamada said he plans to meet with a social service counseling group to determine what action the school might take to head off further problems.

"We're going to make sure nothing like this happens again," he said.

Awai-Tavares said the physicians are hoping her son will recover in six weeks but there's no guarantee of his getting better.

"Because of this, my son may be a diabetic when he leaves, and he may be insulin-dependent for the rest of his life," she said.