South Maui has been waiting patiently for years for a new public high school to be built in Kihei, but now, they will be forced to wait even longer as funding issues mean that the school, which was expected to be done in 2016, will be ready for students by 2020. This is extremely frustrating for residents who noted that currently, more than 700 high-school students living in South Maui are forced to attend schools outside of their community. Baldwin and Maui High Schools, which have taken in the overflow, are significantly overcrowded because of this. When completed, Kihei High School is expected to eventually serve 1,650 students.
In 2013, the state Legislature approved $130 million to be spent for the project, out of which $30 million would come from state backed bonds and $100 million would come from the Department of Education's State Educational Facilities Improvement fund. The bonds will became available in July 2014, which was the start of the fiscal year, but the DOE is not willing to release their $100 million to start building Kihei High School. The DOE is arguing that there are a lot of other maintenance and improvement projects across the state that need to be attended to first, before a new school could be built. Some speculate that the Department of Education will request the state to find a different source for their $100 million, perhaps from general obligation bonds.
Andrew Beerer, who chairs the Kihei High School Action Team subcommittee, stated, "I think what's frustrating for the community is that for six years we were led down a path being told this would be a design-build project and we lobbied the Legislature for this huge amount of money because they said they would need it all upfront. Then, not to play the blame game, but someone changes the dynamic in the 13th hour. Now, there's no real timeline, the financing is uncertain. I'm just like, wow, we're really in no-man's land now. We just have to stay on top of them and make sure that they go out for that $30 million and get it bonded and make sure this remains a priority. They say they're committed to this, but not until they put bulldozers on the land and spend that $30 million will they be committed to finish. If not, we could see this completely fall off the radar."
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 9-27-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
Andrew Beerer, who chairs the Kihei High School Action Team subcommittee, stated, "I think what's frustrating for the community is that for six years we were led down a path being told this would be a design-build project and we lobbied the Legislature for this huge amount of money because they said they would need it all upfront. Then, not to play the blame game, but someone changes the dynamic in the 13th hour. Now, there's no real timeline, the financing is uncertain. I'm just like, wow, we're really in no-man's land now. We just have to stay on top of them and make sure that they go out for that $30 million and get it bonded and make sure this remains a priority. They say they're committed to this, but not until they put bulldozers on the land and spend that $30 million will they be committed to finish. If not, we could see this completely fall off the radar."
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 9-27-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
