Current:Home > InvestLahaina's children and their families grapple with an unknown future-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Lahaina's children and their families grapple with an unknown future
View Date:2024-12-23 22:33:07
In a normal year, the young students at Lahaina’s King Kamehameha III Elementary School would be entering their second month of classes.
Now, all that’s left is a gray hazmat zone filled with the sorrow of what has been lost.
The school, which served around 650 preschool to fifth-graders in the historic West Maui town, burnt down in the wildfires that ravaged the community last month, killing at least 115 people and displacing thousands more.
For Lahaina’s youngest residents – its “keiki” – the fire has completely uprooted their daily routines. They are processing the disaster while dealing with destroyed homes, missing family members and classmates among the deceased.
Myles Verrastro, 6, was about to start his first-grade year at King Kamehameha III, but now his school, along with his home, lie in ashes. Myles and his mom Sarah are sheltered in a hotel just outside of Lahaina.
“I don’t know where we’re going after this. My mom might not find a place after this. We only get a month here,” Myles told ABC News.
Sarah Verrastro managed to get Myles into a new technical school through a lottery, although the makeshift school has not yet been set up.
“They need resources. They need staff,” Verrastro told ABC News. “They need a larger location eventually, if they’re going to accommodate kids that are displaced from the local school. A lot of us don’t know long-term and nor can we even really think long-term. We’re thinking short-term.”
MORE: Families face waiting game in Lahaina back-to-school efforts after Maui wildfires
Myles is one of the lucky children of Lahaina, as thousands of students are still without a school.
Only 1,652 of the 3,000 children from Lahaina have been enrolled in other public schools or distance learning on the island, according to the Hawaii Department of Education.
Ruben Brillantes and his large extended family are all still living in a two-bedroom space far from home just to be near the children’s new schools. There are 27 people who live there, with only one bathroom, Brillantes said.
On weekends, the family travels to the Royal Lahaina resort and two other hotels in West Maui. Brillantes says his 7-year-old nephew Kurt is struggling with being away from home.
“I want everything to be the same in Lahaina, and I miss my school. Or I just miss my friends, that’s all,” Kurt told ABC News.
An emotional Brillantes says there were nine or 10 kids from the neighborhood who used to play on their street every afternoon.
“They can’t do that anymore,” Brillantes said.
On his days off, Brillantes drops off the children at three different schools across the island.
“I've got to be tough because if I'm going to be weak, then my kids is going to be weak, too. So yeah, I don't know. Just be strong every day, all day, every day,” Brillantes said.
Three of the four schools damaged in the Lahaina fire may reopen in mid-October, pending environmental tests.
For Brillantes, schools opening back up raises new concerns about what’s to come.
“When schools open up, I don’t know what’s going to happen because we might get kicked out at my working place. They’re still only allowing us to stay over there until October 31, I think. After that, we don’t know what’s going to happen to us,” Brillantes said.
MORE: Hawaii cultural figures lead community in 'healing' vigil following deadly Maui wildfires
For now, more than 100 of the displaced students are attending Sacred Hearts, one of the few Lahaina schools that is open. After two of its three buildings were destroyed by the fire, principal Tonata Lolesio created a makeshift school in a church just north of Lahaina.
More than half of Lolesio’s 220 students are new to Sacred Hearts after their public schools were damaged in the fire, with 180 more on the waiting list.
Lolesio’s goal is to provide stable learning for the keiki – now the last generation of what was once Lahaina.
“They lost their first home, we had to restore their second home, and because they are the future and our hope for our rebuilding and healing, this is the best we could do for now until we secure a new school here,” Lolesio said.
Dean Wong, head of Imua Family Services, explains the magnitude of this tragedy on children, not just in Lahaina, but all of Maui.
“This is absolutely a trauma. I’m traumatized. You know, something that was here that was a part of our life doesn't exist anymore. And it's just gone. It’s demolished, devastated,” Wong said. “And the pictures of everything – that is also traumatizing. And all of us want to process that differently. Each of us, you and I, as individuals, process trauma and grief, loss, things differently. And that's true with children as well.”
For the keiki all around the island, going back to school has no precedent or timeline. The process has been slow, but families who spoke to ABC News say they’ve already been through the worst.
Back at Sacred Hearts, Lolesio stresses how important children are to the future of the island and its cultures.
“They know the stories of Lahaina before it burnt down. They know our history, our traditions, and our legacies,” she said.
ABC News' Stephanie Wash and Emily Lippiello contributed to this report.
veryGood! (33)
Related
- Trump pledged to roll back protections for transgender students. They’re flooding crisis hotlines
- David McCallum, star of hit TV series ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ and ‘NCIS,’ dies at 90
- David McCallum, star of hit TV series ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ and ‘NCIS,’ dies at 90
- Apple workers launch nationwide strike in France — right as the iPhone 15 hits stores
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chancellor to step down at end of academic year
- The chairman of Hong Kong’s leading journalist group gets jail term for obstructing a police officer
- Oregon’s top court asked to decide if GOP senators who boycotted Legislature can be reelected
- Molotov cocktail thrown at Cuban embassy in Washington, DC, Secret Service says
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Red Velvet, Please
- Mel Tucker’s attorney: Michigan State doesn’t have cause to fire suspended coach over phone sex
Ranking
- Candidates line up for special elections to replace Virginia senators recently elected to US House
- AP PHOTOS: Bavarian hammersmith forges wrought-iron pans at a mill more than 500 years old
- Coast Guard searching for woman swept into ocean from popular Washington coast beach
- India and US army chiefs call for free and stable Indo-Pacific as Chinese influence grows
- AIT Community Introduce
- Kyle Richards Addresses Paris Trip With Morgan Wade After Shooting Down Romance Rumors
- United Auto Workers expand strike, CVS walkout, Menendez indictment: 5 Things podcast
- Former New Zealand prime minister and pandemic prep leader says we’re unprepared for the next one
Recommendation
-
A pregnant woman sues for the right to an abortion in challenge to Kentucky’s near-total ban
-
Leaf-peeping influencers are clogging a Vermont backroad. The town is closing it
-
Monday night’s $785M Powerball jackpot is 9th largest lottery prize. Odds of winning are miserable
-
In letter, Mel Tucker claims Michigan State University had no basis for firing him
-
Princess Kate to host annual Christmas carol service following cancer treatment
-
MLB power rankings: Astros in danger of blowing AL West crown - and playoff berth
-
Video shows California deputy slamming 16-year-old girl to the ground outside football game
-
Miley Cyrus Goes Back to Her Brunette Roots in New Hair Transformation