Previously called Hale Kula Elementary, the school sat on an Oʻahu military base for decades until deterioration and complaints from Army families caught the attention of federal lawmakers. They appropriated millions of dollars to fix the worst schools on military installations.
The late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye helped with that effort. After he died, the Schofield Barracks school honored him by taking his name in 2016. Jan Iwase was the principal at the time. She shared the story about changing the name to Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School.
This interview aired on The Conversation on March 22, 2022. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.