Maui children face grief, destruction as schools start up after wildfire
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[August 19, 2023]
By Sharon Bernstein
(Reuters) - Before wildfire ravaged the Hawaiian community of Lahaina
last week, high school teacher Mike Landes was always the guy arguing
that academics come first - before worries about the social and
emotional development of the students.
But as parents, teachers and students begin trickling back to school
after wildfires ravaged the community in the western part of Hawaii's
island of Maui, mental health, he now insists, must take priority.
The wind-whipped firestorm that raged through Lahaina in west Maui
killed at least 111 people in a death toll that is still mounting. It
destroyed King Kamehameha III Elementary School, damaged three other
campuses and damaged or destroyed more than 2,200 homes and buildings.
Getting kids back in school poses numerous challenges: hundreds have
already enrolled in schools in areas outside the burn zone. Some will be
too traumatized to come when their schools in Lahaina reopen. Some
parents will opt to move rather than rebuild.
Wherever they attend, school can be a step toward normalcy for survivors
in a community grappling with how to pick up lives while carrying a load
of mourning.
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The fire swept through Lahaina on the very day that many students,
including freshmen at Lahainaluna High School where Landes works and
children at the elementary campus where his wife teaches were scheduled
to return from summer vacation. But classes were canceled due to the
high winds that propelled the blaze.
Landes's own two children were scheduled to be in school in Lahaina that
day.
"Social and emotional well-being, care for people who are traumatized -
I think it would be fair to say that's what would need to come first,"
said Landes, who heads the Maui chapter of the Hawaii State Teachers
Association.
To help students, parents and staff, the Hawaii State Department of
Education is offering in-person and telehealth counseling services,
according to the department's website.
"The teachers, their main goal is to make these kids feel as normal as
possible and just get them back to a normal school life," said Courtney
Walter, a parent of three elementary age students who went back to
school last week in Kihei on the south side of the island where Landes
also lives with his family.
SCHOOLS REOPEN OUTSIDE BURN ZONE
The state has been encouraging families from Lahaina to enroll their
children at schools outside of the burn zone where they may be staying
temporarily. Children whose families already lived outside Lahaina but
attend schools there on special permits should also enroll elsewhere,
the Hawaii State Department of Education said on its website.
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![](../images/081923PIX/news_l99.jpg)
Views from the air of the community of
Lahaina after wildfires driven by high winds burned across most of
the town several days ago, in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, U.S. August 10,
2023. REUTERS/Marco Garcia/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Aug/19/images/ads/current/zachs_quarter_FAIR_2023.png)
So far, however, only about 400 students from the burn area have
enrolled in other public schools, while about 200 signed up for
distance learning, according to the state. The four schools in
Lahaina served more than 3,000 students.
It is not yet clear how many children perished in the fire, or how
many parents are waiting to decide where to send them to school.
State education officials did not respond to requests for comment
from Reuters.
Campuses in areas physically unaffected by the blaze reopened to
students on Wednesday, and teachers, staff and pupils at a school
outside of Lahaina in Maui's Upcountry where a different fire burned
are scheduled to return next week, the department said.
Many hung signs welcoming students from Lahaina. At Maui High
School, traditionally a rival of Lahainaluna, students and teachers
wore Lahainaluna's red and white colors, rather than their own
school's blue and white, Landes said.
As of the state's most recent update on Thursday night, officials
had still not decided how to handle enrollment for children who had
attended King Kamehameha III, the school that burned down. One
possibility is to allow them to attend the area's other elementary
school, Princess Nahi'ena'ena Elementary, once it is declared safe.
Another possibility is to open a temporary satellite campus in West
Maui.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Aug/19/images/ads/current/mckinney_sda_FAIR_2023.png)
The state has not yet set a date for reopening the three Lahaina
schools that are still standing, saying only that students and staff
will not be asked to come back until it is safe.
Landes is still hoping to send his children back to school in
Lahaina, and he and his wife still plan to work there.
But coming back will bring a powerful mix of feelings, he said. The
family will have to drive through the burn zone to get to school,
and his children, 11 and 15, will see the devastation first hand.
"They've seen the pictures," he said. "They've heard from their
friends about some really, really horrible things. It's going to be
the most difficult thing they will have ever witnessed in their
lives."
"But we can't wait to do it and they can't wait to do it. Our
community and our schools mean that much."
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento; Additional reporting
by Jonathan Allen and Liliana Salgado in Kihei, Hawaii; Editing by
Donna Bryson and Sonali Paul)
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