Nearly 40 families and educators gathered Thursday to urge the state Department of Education to restore a Hawaiian language preschool classroom cut last month in Kāneʻohe.
For years, Pūnana Leo o Koʻolau Poko has had two classrooms at Windward Oʻahu’s Pūʻōhala School, which houses an English-medium elementary school and a K-12 Kaiapuni program.
Advocates say the cut displaces 20 Hawaiian language immersion preschoolers who may have to be on a waitlist or find another school to attend.
Hawaiian language teacher Kamalei Ontai's 4-year-old son attends Pūnana Leo o Koʻolau Poko. She said the cut also displaced teachers, and families will have to drive farther to put their kids in a Hawaiian immersion classroom.
“I would drive all the way to Nānākuli if I had to just so my keiki can be educated in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi alone,” she said.
DOE spokesperson Nanea Ching said the department “remains committed to the Kaiapuni education at Pūʻōhala Elementary.”
"To accommodate DOE-operated programs and our growing Kaiapuni cohort, next school year Pūʻōhala is adding a dedicated Kaiapuni special education classroom and a Kaiapuni academic coach for data teams and targeted interventions,” she said in a written statement. “The Pūʻōhala administration and the Department are actively working to identify a suitable solution for Pūnana Leo before the start of the 2025–26 school year.”
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and English are the official languages of the state.
For years, advocates have been pushing for more Hawaiian immersion, or Kaiapuni schools, throughout the state.
DOE has 22 Kaiapuni schools serving more than 2,300 statewide.
Hawaiian language immersion makes up over 75% of enrollment at Pūʻōhala School, which has grown from 20 students to nearly 300.
