KEKAHA — Kekaha School is getting a facelift thanks to state Rep. Dee Morikawa and a team of other legislators working to make it a priority.
Details and timeline of the exact renovations are still being worked out, but a little more than $2 million has been appropriated from Gov. David Ige for upgrades at the Westside campus.
Those include replacing the stage curtain, re-carpeting and re-tiling floors, resurfacing the basketball court, replacing termite-damaged building elements and roofing various buildings.
It’s a project that was kicked off more than a year ago, and started with conversations in the state House Finance Committee, and with Morikawa.
“Last year, the Department of Education came down with this whole list of backlogged projects for schools statewide,” Morikawa said. “I had one school in my district (that needed upgrades), so I put that on my CIP (capitol improvement projects) wish list.”
From there, it went through the governmental channels. Ige announced the appropriation of $2,050,000 in funds for repair and maintenance at Kekaha School in a letter sent to Morikawa on Dec. 2.
That letter cites Morikawa’s first request for the funds in July 2019.
It also hinted at moving up the appropriation process because the repairs are desperately needed.
Part of Ige’s letter reads: “The Department of Education had originally scheduled the request for these funds for early 2020, however, we will be submitting an allotment request for these funds in November 2019. Appropriations for repair-and-maintenance activities have been deemed critical and will be released as soon as possible.”
Morikawa said she was happy for Kekaha School when she heard the news, but knows that it could spark a few more requests.
“I’m probably going to start getting requests from all the other schools,” she said, laughing.
Meanwhile, she’s keeping an eye on Waimea Canyon Middle School’s new gym, which is under construction and is planned to be something akin to the covered play courts at other schools across the islands. She is also looking forward to seeing the improvements at Kekaha School when they’re finished.
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Jessica Else, environment reporter, can be reached at 245-0452 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
