At least 8 Hawaii charter schools go virtual or extend break due to COVID-19

At least six of Hawaii’s 37 charter schools have shifted to distance learning, a seventh school is delaying its planned January start date and another school closed its middle school classrooms Thursday as education systems nationwide struggle to cope with an unprecedented COVID-19 omicron variant surge.

The changes illustrate the delicate balance that school leaders everywhere are having to strike between seeking the gold standard of in-person learning and keeping students, teachers and staff safe.

Kamaile Academy Public Charter School in Waianae sent its 100 middle school students home Thursday after a positive test was confirmed during the school day, Principal Paul Kepka said.

“We are erring on the side of caution,” he told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The earliest that group of students will come back is Monday.

In all, 130 students out of Kamaile’s nearly 1,000- student enrollment so far are now having to learn from home after five new positive cases were confirmed this week on campus. In addition, out of 180 employees, 34 were out on Thursday, Kepka said.

Kamaile is the largest of Hawaii’s in-person public charter schools.

All Kamaile students staying home are equipped with laptops to continue learning online, Kepka said. He credited school faculty, staff and families for making extra efforts to cooperate and ensure that in-person instruction continues as much as possible and that students who must connect from home don’t have their learning greatly disrupted.

“These are really difficult decisions,” Kepka said. “We are doing our best to keep our kids in school and keep our school community healthy.”

University Laboratory School in Manoa had started the new semester this week with in-person learning, but on Thursday announced it will switch to virtual instruction starting today, after two new cases were confirmed among students, according to Yvonne Lau, interim executive director of the Hawaii State Public Charter School Commission. Lab School students will be on virtual learning through at least Jan. 14.

Meanwhile, DreamHouse ‘Ewa Beach is conducting virtual learning for at least its first two weeks of the new semester.

“We love our kids, and we can’t wait for them to come back to us. But health and safety have to come first,” said Alex Teece, DreamHouse founder and school leader. “We just did not feel comfortable putting 300 kids in a building and just telling them to keep their masks on and be safe and healthy.”

DreamHouse already provides mobile internet connectivity for its students, and all are given iPads. The school’s tentative plan is to resume in-person learning Jan. 18, but that could change depending on the state of the overall omicron surge and the DreamHouse school community, Teece said.

Three charter schools on Hawaii island also are using distance learning for now, Lau said: Kua o ka La New Century Public Charter School, through Jan. 21; Na Wai Ola Public Charter School, through Jan. 31; and Ka Umeke Kaeo, through today.

Malama Honua Public Charter School in Waima­nalo is extending its winter break by at least another week, Lau said.

Hawaii Technology Academy, which normally offers a mix of online and in-person instruction on multiple islands, has opted to operate only online this week, Lau said.

Hawaii’s charter schools are public schools that have their own independent governing boards, so they do not fall under the state Department of Education’s current approach of opening all schools to in-person learning. Also, they don’t receive substitute teachers from the DOE, Lau said.