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Star-Bulletin file photo
Maili Elementary student Randall Medeiros examines
flies caught in just one morning in the cafeteria.
Odors of nearby animal farms also waft in.

$45,000 grant
to help cool off
Maili students

Portable classrooms beset
by flies and heat will be air
conditioned; the rest of
the school must wait

How to help

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

A $45,000 grant from the James and Abigail Campbell Foundation will help fund the biggest priority at Maili Elementary School, and its principal is hoping the gift will lead to other donations.

The foundation's contribution will help buy air conditioners for 15 portable classrooms at the school, which is plagued by flies.

During summer months, the portable classrooms are particularly hot, with temperatures rising as high as 102 degrees, said Linda Victor, the principal.

"It's very uncomfortable for the students," she said. "They cannot focus on their work."

Maili's 900-student campus is near Leeward chicken and pig farms that leave it exposed to dung flies, animal odors, dust and high temperatures.

The campus is about 35 years old and only the library is air-conditioned.

The Campbell Foundation pledge is only a smidgen of the $3 million that state officials estimate is needed to fully air-condition campus buildings. Victor said about $2 million of that is needed to upgrade and expand the school's antiquated electrical system.

"We're told one more air conditioner or computer in the school, and we could blow everything," she said.

The school is seeking not only cash contributions, but in-kind contributions from electrical companies or individual electricians to do some of the work to cut down on costs, Victor said.

News of the school's plight has raised concerns from Board of Education members in recent weeks, particularly when they were told Maili is ninth on a list of pending school air-conditioning projects.

Both Gov. Ben Cayetano and Karen Knudsen, the board's vice chairwoman, are trying to expedite funding for the work.

A Department of Education spokesman, Greg Knudsen, said facilities people have gone out to Maili to see what else can be done to control the fly problem, such as patching screens and closing doors.

Campbell Foundation's president, Jim Gowney, encouraged public contributions.

"The task at hand may seem huge, but if everyone pitches in, it can be done," Gowney said. "Even a $10 donation or 10 hours of labor would go a long way to help the cause."

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How to help Donation checks can be mailed to Maili Elementary School, 87-360 Kulaaupuni St., Waianae 96792. Those wishing to make in-kind contributions may call the school at 697-7150.