Waters of Life school

[gracie]

Aloha, Gracie here.

I know I have not posted often and many of you may not know me but, I would be most greatful if those of you in the "know' could give me the 411 on the Living Waters Charter School in Kurtistown.
Our move is taking much longer than expected (house selling slow down) and we had other complications that made it necessary for us to cancel our planned recon trip. To be honest the school brochure is raising my too good to be true flag....Here's hopng I'm wrong.

Mahalo

[anapuni808]

Re: Living Waters?

I'm a big booster of our Charter Schools. I think you mean "Waters of Life" School? If so, I can tell you that this school is being considered for "restructuring" and that according to the Charter School Review Board, they are currently on probation. These are matters of public record. If you want to get more details, you can check the Association website at:

http://www.hcsao.net

However, all of this does NOT mean that the school is not a good one or that the brochure is false. Because these schools are forced to run on such small budgets, they often have problems of a financial nature. There are quite a few charter schools on the Big Island so I would suggest that you check them too.

Good Luck!

[gracie]

Re: Living Waters?

Thanks for the link, definitely helpful. We have looked at all the BI charter schools as well as a few of the standard publics. We also like CONNECTIONS, & HAAS.
We have 3 children 11, 9, & 6. One rocket/robot geek, one marine science/art maniac, & one who could make the best of it on Mars if need be.
We are looking for a close knit involved family environment. We were originally attracted to these schools for their hands-on learner centered approach, as well as their commitment to personal growth, community responsibilty & environmental stewardship.
I know this is a lot to ask of any school but we are encouraged by what we have learned so far.
Mahalo, in advance to anyone who may be able to shed more light on each or any of these schools.
Gracie

[musubi]

Waters of Life Charter School Ordered to Close

As reported by the Honolulu Advertiser today:

"The state's Charter School Review Panel has revoked the charter of Waters of Life Public Charter School on the Big Island, the first school ever to be placed on probation and subsequently closed by the governing body of the state's independent public schools..."

For the entire story:

Hawaii Charter School Panel Orders "Waters of Life" to Close

[Betsey]

Re: Living Waters?

I understand from a friend on the Big Island, they have a court date this Friday and may get the decision overturned.

Good luck to them!

[Betsey]

Re: Living Waters?

My friend says that the review panel people are trying -right now! - to gain access to the St Theresa's building, to seize school property, without a court order.

To quote her: We would love as much community support as possible. In a nutshell: The Charter Review Panel shut us down. There is no set of rules in place by the Board of Ed. for them to follow regarding putting on probation, shutting down or any other action against charter schools. They insist they are above rules and donn't need to follow them. So there are here without a court order, insisting they be allowed into the building to sieze school property, etc...we are all hoping that our court case Friday wil see some resolution

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Living Waters?

All WoL items are considered to be property of the State of Hawaii / DOE. One of the major problems with Wol is the lack of a functional board (or board at all) and misguided information between the County of Hawaii's Planning department and the Permitting departments. The school was run by a passionate director who was overwhelmed by a dysfunctional school board comprised of highly knowledgable volunteers and equally passionate but not so knowledgable volunteers. It consisted of area residents, parents, teachers professional workers and UH professors. All had bright ideas, most were adopted, however when it came to critical discussion on liability, strategic planning and other issues of concern, those who spoke passionately, lacked the intellectual depth to fully understand the consequences of such passionate motions to pass.

Because of this, highly qualified board members left in disgust leaving the school with an incomplete board. Their passionate director was relieved of her duties in an executive session meeting and replaced with someone who was equally passionate but lacked the experience to guide the school adminstratively effectively.

Waters of Life has an excellent teaching staff dedicated to their students. It has a dedicated administrative staff, that lacks experience to deal with the monumental task of defending itself in an environment where local attorneys refused to defend them because of conflict of interest. How it got there was when WoL acted upon advice given to them by the County of Hawaii's Planning department on the purchase of Ag land in Ala Loop for the development of their permant campus.

What the Planning Department didn't know was that an EIS statement was required because of health and safety issues. Normally an EIS wouldn't have been mandated because Public Chartered schools built on State Agricultural land fell under the authority of Home Rule whereby local counties could exercise their authority to develop those parcels. Public Charter Schools were one of the few variances allowed on State Ag lands for development.

The County of Hawaii's Planning department thus felt that their own county infrastructure could decide whether the school's building plans and/or structures fell in compliance with county regulations. But they failed to see the part where if health and safety was an issue, the State of Hawaii's authority over rulled the County's Home Rule position. Once the State of Hawaii is involved in any development, it generates an automatic mandate for an EIS.

The County felt it was within their authority to issue a building permit but the State of Hawaii's attorney general, Mark Bennett issued an opinion that this was in the jurisdiction of the State because of health and safety concerns.

An EIS would have denied the school to continue to operate at that location at Ala Loop and fought the State with a lawsuit to delay action against the school while the school year was already in progress stating they were mis-informed by the County of Hawaii. The County Council had the school's blessings to sue because it would finally bring this issue to the courts where a final and definative line would be drawn. The County Council basically didn't know where their legal authority stood and left it up to the courts to decide their limits of liability.

Appeals kept the school in operation at various temporary structures around the Keaau/Puna areas. That along with a dysfunctional board left the replacement director being pulled by it's own board, the County of Hawaii, the State of Hawaii, and TWO residents of Ala Loop that filed a lawsuit against the development of that purchased parcel in a three-way tug of war.

Eventually board members who had the correct and legal vision for the school, left the board in disgust as other "passionate" board members stayed on guiding the school with their "vision" of how to deal with the enemy.

The school was left without a meaningful board and an overwhelmed director and administrative staff who basically dropped the ball in the 11th hour in favor of focusing on the students.

It's sad because Waters of Life truly was a cutting edge school with a great vision for it's students. It's academic record proved itself but it's board couldn't come to any agreement on outside issues, it's director was overwhelmed, the County misguided it, and a couple of NIMBY neighbors left Waters of Life PCS without a pulse to continue effectively anymore.

How do I know all this? I was one of those disgusted board members that tried to save the school thru compromise instead of taking the attitude of some other board members of "Winner take all, leave no prisoners" mentality.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Waters of Life school

That's a very interesting POV you present on the situation, Craig. Having personally been on SCBM councils in 2 public schools, let me ask you this. Did the board members of this charter school go through a consensus-building workshop or seminar at the start? I ask you that question because from what you describe to me, it sounds like the board became dysfunctional as a result of "winner take all, loser gets no say" style of governance. When it comes to school governance, it is my experience that a board/council cannot emulate the "majority rule" politics that you see on city councils and state legislatures. Passing laws by a narrow 51-49 margin may be something that politicians are used to and have to deal with,...... but when it comes to school boards/councils, having majorities ram through policies that the minority faction is strongly opposed to creates a toxic atmosphere at meetings. The results are predictable. Dissident board members quitting. Power struggles tearing the school apart. And if the school doesn't get its act together internally, then it makes external challenges (like city/state bureaucratic snags & neighborhood opposition) all the more daunting.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Waters of Life school

To answer your question, No this board was filled with passionate parents some (the majority) who lacked the disciplines of following any rules of order.

And yes your description of board conduct was very accurate as to the "Toxic" atmosphere at each meeting. More cordial but lots of passive-aggressive-behavior attitude going on there. Board Facilitation was necessary but sometimes futile when trying to stay focused on the agenda for the evening.

Even when the board could come to some consensus and a committee was formed to facilitate that motion, rarely was any action done. Like I said, it was futile. All that hammering out of details only to have a committee fail to follow up. It was like all talk and no walk. Those of us who tried to keep things civil and legal (following proper channels) were accused of holding up the process. I told them you just can't force your will upon the residents of Ala Loop there has to be a balance between two opposing forces.

In the end I just got fed up and had to leave the board. I lobbied for an entire year at the State Capital, went to legislator's offices in support of PCS'. I've sat on Hokulani Elementary School's SCBM and PTSA boards before both were merged. I've been on many boards where Roberts Rules of Order was the bible on conduct, but I've never sat on a board as dysfunctional as WoL. It was simply frustrating.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Waters of Life school

Hopefully, if the Waters of Life school gets a reprieve, the board members that remain will get training in consensus building. It's not something that comes naturally. And participants all have to embrace the idea of forumulating, shaping, and implementing policies that comes as close as possible to unanimous buy-in from all the stakeholders. Of course, you'll rarely get 100% support on proposals, but the goal is to get to that point as much as can be attained. "Majority rules" should only be a last resort, when all else fails and a decision has to be made.

Years ago, I received this sage advice from a veteran DOE principal when it came to handling a situation where the SCBM council seemed to be hopelessly deadlocked on a proposal, with each stakeholder seemingly at odds with each other. He said it was prudent for the facilitator to call for a recess so that the various factions could cool down. Then when the meeting resumes, remind all the stakeholders to ask themselves the question, "What's best for all the kids in the school?" From that point, the council would list down the commonalities that all the parties share. With that as a foundation, another formal proposal could be fleshed out and formulated. Likely, it will be a proposal that will end up with a greater support than its predecessors.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Waters of Life school

Hokulani's SCBM had some good members. Practically all were professionals who worked in the field of education so that school had a really top notch SCBM and PTSA board. Getting parental participation at WoL was dismal at best. I joined the PTSA there when my children went to that school and was shocked when one teacher (PTSA chairperson), one parent and myself were the only ones there. And that was a general membership meeting! What a contrast.

But like you said, when there were differences of opinion, most of the boards I've sat on (including the Kaimuki Little League St. Louis Oreoles, Kamehameha Band Booster Club, Waiokeola Congregational Church Board of Trustees and other smaller boards) always looked at it's mission statement when it got deadlocked. In most cases it really is, "All about the Keiki", and that mantra keeps the board focused when it get's unhinged.

[Betsey]

Re: Waters of Life school

That is sage advice - and it applies to a lot of other services too!

Folks come to meetings with all kinds of axes to grind. And even very competent and professional people can get attached to a particular viewpoint or approach. Bringing it back to the basics, 'We are doing this for the beneficiaries' reminds everyone that you're only arguing about means, not ends.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Waters of Life school

Some join boards for the recognition, some for the power, but the reality for joining a board of any group is because your views reflect the views of the organization's mission more than anything else. Your expertise is there to enhance that vision not blindside it. Unfortunately power and recognition is more important than the issues for some board members.

[anapuni808]

Re: Waters of Life school

Update: the school will apparently be able to re-open next month. here is a link to article in today's Honolulu Advertiser:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar...+school+reopen