Lawmakers See Damage At Hawaii Schools

December 18, 2005

Wed Dec 14,11:02 PM ET

Many of Hawaii's public school students have to live with termite-

eaten walls, broken toilets and leaky ceilings. On Wednesday, state

lawmakers got a close-up look at the problem.

The lawmakers took a tour of Farrington High School on Wednesday.

There the legislators found water leaks in a bathroom from the

ground and the ceiling. The damage is so bad in there that school

administrators closed it off.

In one storage room, no one dares to go inside. The leaky ceiling

ruined everything and the smell of mold can be unbearable.

Termites ravaged one wall and the school is still waiting for

repairs in another building.

" It makes me angry because these kids deserve the exact same thing

as the kids in Hawaii Kai, the kids in Kailua, the kids in

Mililani, " Farrington teacher Kominski said.

Lawmakers got a first-hand look at Farrington, along with

Elementary School on the Windward side and Nanakuli High

School. Those schools are considered in the worst condition on Oahu

because of the backlog of repairs and maintenance projects.

" It's not a good learning environment in a lot of cases and it's

really frustrating, " said Dexter Furuhashi, of the Department of

Education.

It's a problem that runs deep. The backlog for Hawaii's public

schools stands at roughly $524 million. The Department of Education

is asking lawmakers for $160 million for future renovations, mostly

for schools over 25 years old.

" I'm fairly certain that we will increase to a large degree the

amount of dollars that we will allocate for maintenance for our

schools next session, " House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Roy

Takumi said.

Some say what has helped is a new law that gives the DOE control

over repairs and maintenance money from the state.

" You can tell that the money is coming to the school now, " Kominski

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