Noise fix gives push to plan for preschool

Kamehameha Schools wants to put a facility on land in Kaneohe

A Kamehameha Schools preschool for 108 children is expected to open in a vacant Kaneohe lot in the fall of 2009 after several changes were made to the 2-year-old project to address concerns over noise, traffic and community use of the site in Haiku Village.

Kamehameha Schools still needs permits before it can start building on the 2-acre property. The preschool would include covered walkways, six classrooms, a playground, a parking lot, an administrative office and a storage building -- all below 25 feet.

The school is needed to accommodate about 70 students taking classes in portables between Windward Mall and Heeia Elementary, said Kamehameha Schools Communications Director Marsha Bolson.

She said there are an estimated 1,275 preschool-age children in Kaneohe and Kahaluu but only 13 preschools serving just more than 700 students.

In May the City Council approved Kamehameha Schools' request to have its lot rezoned from preservation to residential despite objection from Haiku Village residents who wanted to continue to use the space as a park.

In exchange for the zoning change, Kamehameha Schools agreed to keep some of the parcel open to residents for "passive recreational" uses and promised to use the property only for educational purposes.

To reduce noise, the school plans to have most activities inside classrooms and place its playground between buildings, which will have wood frames similar to Haiku Village residences.

While some still oppose the school, many residents are pleased with the changes made to the project's design and layout, said Patty Yamashiro-Hironaka, vice chairwoman of the Kaneohe Neighborhood Board.

"They've tried to accommodate a lot of the suggestions that the community wants," she said.

The proposed preschool would give preference to native Hawaiian students and charge $1,516 per school year. School hours would be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. except on Wednesday, when students would leave at noon.

A decision on Kamehameha Schools' permit application with the city should take three months.