Suit says girl was
stripped, searched
The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii filed suit today in U.S. District Court against the principal and secretary of a charter school on the Big Island for allegedly strip-searching a 15-year-old girl.
The complaint against Principal Steven Hirakami and secretary Andrea Irvine contends that Hirakami directed Irvine to take the girl into a room, where she was forced to stand naked while Irvine searched her clothes.
Hirakami, reached this morning, denied the allegations. "That never happened," he said. "There were no clothes removed."
The girl was wearing baggy clothing at the time, Hirakami said, and her clothing was not removed. A search was conducted in accordance with Department of Education rules, he said.
The ACLU said in a news release that the girl and two other students had been singled out as suspects in the alleged theft of $30 from a school van driver's fanny pack, but she was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Hawaii Academy of Arts & Science is a charter school in Pahoa, with close to 100 students in grades seven through 12. Charter schools are public schools that operate under a charter, or contract, with the state giving them more autonomy over their own affairs.
Hirakami was elected earlier this year as treasurer of the Hawaii Charter Schools Network.
Star-Bulletin reporter Rod Thompson contributed to this report.