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Popular charter school KIHEI, Maui >> Kihei High School parents and students say their new charter school on the Valley Isle has no textbooks and teachers are using their own money for school supplies because of a 40 percent cut in funding resulting from state legislative changes last year.
on Maui suffering from
huge budget cuts
With 40 percent less in state money,
Kihei High School may
not be able to expandBy Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com"That's really disappointing for the parents because I've been paying taxes all my life," said Cecelia Camp, a resident of Kihei who has two children attending the school, which opened its doors in August. "The state should come through with the funds."
Kihei High School, located in one of the fastest-growing communities in the state, is receiving good reviews from a number of parents and students who like the way the curriculum is integrated into developing projects and using high-technology.
But they are worried about the decrease in state funding and whether the school will be able to double enrollment to 120 students as planned starting in August.
Principal Rick Paul said the school began with about 64 students and has lost 19 pupils because some returned to the mainland and others decided they needed a more structured setting and went back to their old school.
Kihei High teacher Brandy Cajudoy said she's been using about $300 to $400 of her own money for student supplies every quarter and had to alter a couple of student projects because of the lack of money for materials.
Gene Zarro, chairman of a nonprofit group helping the school, said in planning the budget, high school officials met with a state charter school specialist to figure they would get about $5,000 per student.
Zarro said that half of the money was to come from determining the per-student cost within the state Education Department and the other half from a state subsidy that went to schools with small enrollment.
Zarro said the state Legislature passed a bill last year that effectively eliminated the small-school subsidy and put a cap on per-student allocations.
The school has received federal grant money and donations to purchase about $600,000 worth of equipment, including 15 computer work stations and 20 laptop computers.
But it was relying on state money for operations.
Zarro said the $178,000 provided by the state barely pays for the salaries for the principal, the administrative assistant and three teachers.
Zarro said the school is receiving $50,000 annually from the "Tech Ready" program initiated by Maui Mayor James Apana and the county is also providing space for the new high school at the Kihei Youth Center. "If the county hadn't given us a grant and if they hadn't allowed us the use of the youth center, we'd be bankrupt," Zarro said.
Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said the figure was based on taking the total budget of the state Department of Education and dividing it by the number of students. Knudsen said the figure includes administrative costs and personnel benefits that help all schools, including charter schools.
Knudsen said a smaller school generally costs more on a per pupil basis because it has fixed costs, including a principal and clerical staff. He said the department wants to make sure that whatever money goes to public charter schools does not take money from the regular public schools.
State Sen. Avery Chumbley (D, East Maui, North Kauai), who voted against the legislative changes, said he plans to introduce a bill to redo the method of calculating the amount of money that go to charter schools.
Maui County
