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| At the close of
the half-hour session, kindergartner Kahaku
Tolentino-Perry gets his first hands-on experience
with a quarter-sized learning violin. Helping hold
the instrument are fifth-grade teacher Pele Harmon
and Honolulu Symphony Orchestra Director of
Education John Magnuson, while violinist Emma
Phillips looks on. HSO violinists Emma Phillips
and Sasha Margolis teamed up Wednesday to give
students at Ke Kula o Nawahio-Kalani'opu'u School,
in Keaau, a practical demonstration of concert
terms. The event is part of the HSO's Big Island
education tour, one of seven groups offering
in-school performances throughout the island for
two days. Thursday evening at 7 p.m., the HSO
welcomes all ages for a free concert, led by Aaron
Mahi and including selected Hawaiian classics with
special guest Raiatea Helm, at the Sheraton
Keauhou Bay Resort Grand Ballroom. On Friday at
the same location, HSO ends its tour with two
separate youth performances of "Peter and the
Wolf" for grades K to 3 and 4 to 6, starting at
9:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., respectively. For more
information: honolulusymphony.com.
- William Ing/Tribune-Herald
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Charter schools in tight times
State facilities see cut budgets,
charters get ax
by Bret Yager
Tribune-Herald
Staff Writer
Connections Public Charter School Director
John Thatcher is hoping the school can hang onto its culinary
arts program.
The class is popular with the kids and
they won awards in cooking this year. But it's not cheap to
run, and with his school set to receive about $900 less per
student this year, the program may get the ax.
"We may
be able to salvage some vestiges of it, but at this point, I
don't see how we're not going to cut it," Thatcher said. "If I
have to cut math or cut culinary arts, which one am I going to
pick? There are too many requirements for things we have to
teach."
A couple of Connections teachers will depart
for the mainland, but the school won't have the money to hire
replacements. Thatcher will also be cutting teacher
preparation time and eyeing other ways to consolidate programs
and tighten belts.
"Schools are going to lose programs that go
beyond the basics," Thatcher said.
The budget for the
state's charter schools has actually increased this year --
from $51.6 million to more than $57 million. But that has to
be spread among a projected 8,000 kids -- around 1,500 more
than last year. That will reduce per-pupil spending from
$8,000 to about $7,100, based on enrollment projections for
the coming year that include several new schools.
But
lawmakers point out that money for all of Hawaii's public
schools -- and state functions in general -- has been reduced
due to a budget shortfall.
That's not much comfort to
Thatcher or Steve Hirakami, the Hawaii Academy of Arts and
Science director who says charter school budgets are being
trimmed up to 14 percent, while the regular public schools are
set to lose only one-third of a percent of their
budget.
Public schools face a $7.7 million cut in a
$2.4 billion operating budget. Schools may have to raise lunch
prices, bus fares and fees on after-school programs to make up
the deficit.
Hirakami is predicting a loss of about
$1,000 for each of his 330 students. The temptation now for
schools is to boost enrollment, but increasing one school's
share of the overall pot allotted to charters would reduce the
amount left for other schools, he said.
"I can see a
reduction, but going all the way down to 7,100 is
unconscionable," Hirakami said. "For some of the smaller
schools, with 40 to 50 students, it's huge to lose 14 percent
of your budget."
"We got to get lean and mean," he
added.
Bret Yager can be reached at byager@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
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