KAILUA-KONA — A project that will increase teaching space at Kealakehe Elementary School is moving closer to fruition.
However, the $12 million needed to start work on the new classroom building as projected in December 2020 has yet to be appropriated, said Sherie Char, a communications specialist with the state Department of Education.
“HIDOE will work with legislators to secure funds,” Char said via email. “The EA is on track to be completed, however, the design will pause at the preliminary stage until construction funding is secured.”
For crews to be on the ground working in late 2020, the funding needs to be secured by the end of the next legislative session in May 2019 to allow completion of the bidding process during 2020, according to a final environmental assessment released earlier this week. The document received finding of no significant impact, allowing the project to move forward.
Construction should take 16 months. Based on that timeline, if the project gets underway in December 2020, work should wrap up by April 2022, meaning students could be in the new classrooms for the 2022-23 academic year.
Kealakehe Elementary School principal Nancy Matsukawa called the release of the final environmental assessment “good news,” noting another step in the process of getting additional teaching space had been accomplished.
“I’m glad to hear that things are moving forward, and we are certainly in need of classroom space at this school,” she said.
The new 7,056-square-foot classroom building will be constructed between the school’s cafeteria and building G. It will include four general education classrooms, one special education self-contained classroom, one itinerant room, one faculty center, one conference room and one custodial room. In addition, there will be restrooms, a communications room and mechanical and electrical rooms.
Construction alone is estimated to cost $9.2 million, however, the final cost will be around $12 million because of additional costs incurred for construction management, contingency, staff, works of art, equipment, additional design efforts and utilities, according to the final EA.
In addition to giving students access to 21st Century Learning technologies, the state said the additional classrooms are needed to absorb projected student population growth in the area.
The department anticipates Kealakehe Elementary School’s enrollment to increase by 33 students by 2021. In addition, growth at other schools in the area could require changes to school service boundaries, bringing more students to the school.
During the 2017-18 school year, 968 students were enrolled at the school, up from 956 in 2016-17, according to state data. In recent years, enrollment was highest during the 2015-16 school year when the school’s student population registered at 1,014, up from 1,003 during the 2014-15 academic year.
According to the school’s website, the campus was built in 1969 as Kealakehe School. By 1986, school enrollment topped 1,400 students, leading to the construction of Kealakehe Intermediate, which serves grades six through eight.