Hawaii Tribune-Herald: Keauu High principal set

Thursday, Jul 29, 2004

Keauu High principal set

By HUNTER BISHOP
Keaau High School will have a new acting principal when students report for classes Friday.

Peg O'Brien, who opened the five-year-old Keaau school with only a freshman class in 1999, was named principal of Pahoa Elementary School, said Mary Correa, superintendent of the Keaau/Pahoa/Ka'u complex of schools.

Replacing O'Brien as acting principal at Keaau is Vivian Mark, who retired as principal of Waiakea Intermediate School in 2002. Mark has held other positions with the DOE since her retirement however, most recently as acting principal at Kalanianaole Elementary and Intermediate School in Papaikou.

O'Brien was assailed this year by parents concerned about numerous fights and explosives on campus, including homemade napalm that a student ignited on school grounds with students present in May. The 55-acre campus in Keaau with 950 students was patrolled by only two security guards, and a security manager's position was unfilled for two years.

O'Brien always maintained that the campus was a safe and secure place for students, however, and that safety and security concerns were being exaggerated. In previous interviews she noted that students were arrested for the explosives incidents and that no one was hurt. O'Brien is currently on leave and Correa did not know when she would be reporting to Pahoa Elementary, where students are expected to start classes on Aug. 2. She could not be reached for comment on her transfer.

Mark, meanwhile, was embroiled in controversy following a DOE report citing a potential for violence among staff members at Waiakea Intermediate School where she was in her fifth year as principal in 2001. A small group of teachers opposed to changing the school's schedule and curriculum feuded with Mark and other teachers resulting in school-wide tension and "strong probability" of violence, according to the DOE report.

Mark disputed the report's conclusion, however, saying there was no evidence provided for the potential of violence except for the perceptions of some of the interviewees.

While O'Brien is permanently assigned to Pahoa, Mark is in a temporary position at Keaau. Correa said applications for the permanent assignment would be taken through Aug. 6. The DOE also is searching for a new principal at Ka'u High and Pahala Elementary School, and for two new school renewal specialists in the Hawaii District office, she said.

Correa was a renewal specialist herself until recently appointed to replace Judith Saranchock as complex superintendent. Renewal specialist Joyce Iwashita was recently appointed principal at Kalanianaole School.

The Pahoa Elementary principal's position opened when Michelle Ouellette was appointed school renewal specialist last year. Marilyn Quaccia, who took Ouellette's place on a temporary basis last school year, will be returning to Keaau High School as vice principal along with vice principal Sylvia Lee.

Schools operating on the modified year-round schedule will begin opening for classes this week through Aug. 6, Correa said. Thirty-two public schools on the Big Island, including 13 charter schools, have adopted the modified year-round calendar while 24 other schools remain on the traditional calendar. Complexes with schools operating on different basic schedules sometimes cause problems for families that have children in more than one school.

Schools on the traditional schedule open in late August.

State lawmakers included a provision in its school reform bill calling for the standardization of school schedules. Within two years the public schools will have to set the same schedule for all schools. Talks on the details of the proposed new schedule have not begun, Correa said.

Hunter Bishop can be reached at hunter@hawaiitribune-herald.com

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