KONA (HawaiiNewsNow) – Teachers at a Hawaii Island school with nearly 1,000 students are speaking out about leaking pipes.
They said the problems at Kealakehe Elementary School need a permanent solution.
Video shows water from a leaky bathroom pipe dripping into a third-grade classroom at the elementary school earlier this week.
Special Education teacher Rabayah Akhter recorded the video.
“A couple of the students started freaking out that they were getting, like, splashed on,” she said. “Kids were complaining that it smelled bad, that it was making them nauseous.”
The Hawaii State Teachers Association brought a group of educators together with horror stories of similar leaks.
“I actually broke down that day because I was so upset and I started crying,” said resource teacher Joy Hanato.
“This problem is not new,” said third-grade teacher Jill Jacobs.
Jacobs is one of 15 teachers who have written letters to the Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE), and said it’s been going on for years.
“They fixed one spot, and the leak just moved further down the piping to a new space,” she said.
The teachers said the usual short-term solution, shutting off the water, causes other problems.
“Sometimes it is all of the bathrooms, both student bathrooms and the teacher bathrooms, and the students will have to go find other bathrooms,” Jacobs said.
“Last year, I had a student who asked, and she couldn’t get to a working bathroom in time, and she peed herself,” she added. “This is an eight-year-old. That is insanely embarrassing.”
The teachers said Kealakehe’s administrators are doing their best, but cannot hire a plumber and have to go through the HIDOE protocol.
In a statement, DOE said:
“The Department is aware of the concerns being raised and takes any facility-related issue seriously.
To clarify the classroom leak situation — the leak was of clear water and not sewage. School administration was notified after the school day that there was a ceiling drip and had already initiated plans to address it before it evolved into a leak. The leak was fully cleaned and contained the following morning before students arrived, and a work order has been submitted for further investigation and repair. The school has not received any reports of student or staff illnesses related to this incident.
The school has been actively working with facilities and maintenance teams to address any issues as they arise, and continues to take all necessary steps to ensure facilities remain safe and operational for all students and staff.”
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