Maui educators speak out asking for consistent COVID-19 protocols, widespread testing

Dozens of educators conducted informational picketing outside of Maui Waena Intermediate, Maui High, and Kahului Elementary before school started Tuesday morning, chastising the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) for failing to negotiate important safety protocols with the Hawaii State Teachers Association while slowly beginning school COVID-19 testing weeks into the school year.

“They keep acting like everything is fine. The house is burning,” said Lisa Morrison, a teacher at Maui High School and HSTA secretary-treasurer.

John Fitzpatrick, a seventh-grade science teacher at Maui Waena Intermediate School, told Hawaii News Now: “The message to the department is to listen to us.”

“We are sending out an SOS signal. We feel like we’re in a lifeboat and we need true leadership that actually listens to teachers and listens to our concerns,” Fitzpatrick said.

While the HIDOE negotiated a memorandum of understanding with HSTA last school year to guarantee safety protocols and lay out how staff and students would transition to distance or hybrid learning, the department refused to negotiate any similar type of agreement this school year.

Morrison and Fitzpatrick said many teachers don’t feel safe going to work and they want to alert the public about what’s happening on campuses.

“Our youngest students are the hardest hit. Our elementary teachers are the most stressed. It’s very problematic,” Morrison said.

The HIDOE’s website reported 43 cases at Kahului Elementary, which is more than any elementary school in the state and more than any school on Maui.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Health’s recent cluster report said while most children were infected off-campus, three of those who tested positive for COVID were reported at school.

The health department also reported 11 clusters at multiple educational settings on Maui, totaling 134 cases. Amid these concerning reports, teachers said they want rapid COVID-19 tests available on all campuses.

Because of a substitute teacher shortage, when Maui full-time teachers are diagnosed with COVID-19 or are isolated after being close contacts, large numbers of students spend their entire days in cafeterias.

“Which means either admin has to cover or they have to ask other teachers to come out of their duties in order to fill those duties,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick and other teachers said the department needs to offer free testing at more schools.

The DOH and HIDOE are still beginning free COVID-19 testing at public schools, more than six weeks into the school year. As of last week, HIDOE said free testing had begun at just 59 of the 257 public schools across the state. Some of them have been one-time testing events, far from the regular weekly testing that’s needed to protect students, staff and the community.

Robert Fusato, a teacher at Maui Waena Intermediate, told news website Maui Now, “On some days it’s not as bad as others, but some days you could have over 100 students in the cafeteria.”

Fusato said teachers want a better working agreement. “We feel there’s not enough of a teacher voice in what’s happening… If it’s only the state saying what’s going to happen and they’re not actually in the classroom, I don’t think they have enough information to make a decision,” said Fusato.

State Rep. Troy Hashimoto (D, Wailuku, Waikapu, Waihee, Waiehu) who sits on the state House Education Committee, joined educators on the picket line Tuesday.

“I think there are a lot of challenges at every school… We need to make sure that Maui is taken care of and their needs are heard. On the neighbor islands especially, we have to advocate for what is necessary,” Hashimoto told Maui Now.

Educators around the state are conducting informational pickets, with Hilo teachers gathering for outdoor picketing outside the state building in Hilo this Friday. Kona, Kauai, and Hilo teachers will picket on Tuesday, Sept. 28, as well.

The first outside picketing event happened Tuesday, Sept. 14, when about 200 HSTA members from its largest chapter in Leeward Oahu gathered outside the State Office Building in Kapolei. Nearly 900 Leeward Chapter members signed a petition demanding that the HIDOE negotiate with HSTA to assure agreed-upon safety protocols in schools. The petition was submitted to the Hawaii Board of Education as testimony last week.

On Thursday, Sept. 16, educators in Kohala held signs after classes at the elementary, middle, and high schools in that Hawaii Island community.