School official
admits abuse

An administrator's confession that she
beat her son leaves her future in doubt

LIHUE » The school board of a small charter school for Niihau children in West Kauai will conduct an emergency meeting to decide whether to retain the school's chief administrator, who pleaded guilty to assaulting her 11-year-old son.

Hedy Leilani Sullivan, 56, admitted to beating her son with a baseball bat and swinging him around by a cord tied to his neck at their Waimea home in April. She faces up to 10 years in prison when she is sentenced on March 22.

Sullivan returned to work at Kula Aupuni Niihau A Kahelelani Aloha New Century Public Charter School after entering her guilty pleas in Kauai Circuit Court on Tuesday. The school has 35 students and provides instruction in all grades from kindergarten through 12th grade.

"This unfortunate incident between her and her son has never affected her performance," said school board President Lehua Kanahele.

Kanahele said she is calling the meeting "soon" to "decide whether the positive outweighs the negative" in retaining Sullivan as administrator.

The school is part of what originally was called Niihau School of Kekaha. In a rift among Niihau families living in West Kauai, it split into two schools, one in which only Hawaiian is spoken and one, which Sullivan administers, which is bilingual although Hawaiian is the primary language.

Child Protective Services has taken custody of both the injured boy and a younger brother. Sullivan and her husband have older children, but none are living at home, said Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Winn.

Winn said the injured child dialed 911 and asked for police after his mother attacked him. Police called for an ambulance, and the boy was taken to Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waimea. Winn would not discuss the extent of his injuries.

Sullivan originally was charged with kidnapping, first-degree terroristic threatening and three counts of assault. The two assault pleas were the result of a plea bargain.