{"id":26030,"date":"2026-10-06T14:02:47","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T00:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=26030"},"modified":"2026-10-06T14:11:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T00:11:46","slug":"2026-na%ca%bbalehu-elementary-campus-to-reopen-monday-following-extensive-hurricane-lala-repairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/2026-na%ca%bbalehu-elementary-campus-to-reopen-monday-following-extensive-hurricane-lala-repairs\/","title":{"rendered":"N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu Elementary campus to reopen Monday following extensive Hurricane Lala repairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly two months after Hurricane Lala caused extensive flooding and damage at N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu Elementary School, approximately 400 students will return to their campus Monday, Oct. 12, following the completion of repairs and the school\u02bbs temporary relocation to Ka\u2018\u016b District Gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cParents, staff and the community have shown up for us during these uncertain times,\u201d  N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu Elementary Principal Jason Britt said. \u201cI am so thankful to our teachers and administrators who created the welcoming environment at Ka\u02bb\u016b District Gym and provided stability, positivity and support for our students during this transition. And I cannot thank our facilities and janitorial staff enough for their dedication and hard work to ready our campus. We cannot wait to be back at school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School and facilities staff have been preparing classrooms and the campus for students\u2019 return, with final preparations and finishing touches being completed during fall break this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurricane Lala brought damaging rains to Hawai\u02bbi Island in August, with N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu Elementary, Ka\u02bb\u016b High and P\u0101hala Elementary and surrounding communities in South Hawai\u02bbi Island among the hardest hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu Elementary experienced extensive flooding and damage to roofs, flooring and campus grounds, forcing the campus to close for repairs. Leaks and water intrusion required roofing and ceiling repairs, flooring replacement and mold remediation to ensure safe learning environments. Furniture and equipment damaged by water and mud were also replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While repairs were underway, a temporary learning site<\/a> at Ka\u02bb\u016b District Gym opened Sept. 2, allowing students to resume in-person instruction on a staggered schedule by grade level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department also worked to maintain access to meals and learning materials throughout the disruption. On Aug. 26 and 27, HIDOE distributed 3,800 free shelf-stable meals<\/a> at sites in P\u0101hala, N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu and Ocean View. Elementary students received instructional packets with meal boxes before in-person instruction resumed, and N\u0101\u2018\u0101lehu students continued receiving shelf-stable meals to take home on days they were not scheduled at the temporary campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRestoring the N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu Elementary campus was a tremendous team effort involving our school and facilities teams, along with county and state partners and construction crews who worked together to complete critical repairs,\u201d Ka\u02bb\u016b-Kea\u02bbau-P\u0101hoa Complex Area Superintendent Stacey Bello said. \u201cAt the same time, our teachers and staff kept students connected, supported and learning throughout the disruption. We are deeply grateful to everyone who stepped up for the N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu community and helped make this return possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statewide, HIDOE identified storm-related repair and maintenance needs at 38 schools following Hurricane Lala, generating 153 work orders and approximately $12.5 million in preliminary cost estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Construction
Construction workers caulk a classroom ceiling damaged by the hurricane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu
A friendly school sign welcomes students back to campus. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Various
An exposed classroom ceiling truss in the process of repair.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly two months after Hurricane Lala caused extensive flooding and damage at N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu Elementary School, approximately 400 students will return to their campus Monday, Oct. 12, following the completion of repairs and the school\u02bbs temporary relocation to Ka\u2018\u016b District Gym. \u201cParents, staff and the community have shown up for us during these uncertain times,\u201d  N\u0101\u02bb\u0101lehu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":26031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"856,893,1022,1619,1622,1623","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-homepage","category-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":32,"label":"Featured - Homepage"},{"value":21,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Na\u02bbalehu-Elementary-Campus-Clean-Up-P2983488-1-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Kimi Takazawa","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/author\/kimi-takazawak12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":32,"name":"Featured - Homepage","slug":"featured-homepage","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":32,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":32,"category_count":1,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Featured - Homepage","category_nicename":"featured-homepage","category_parent":0},{"term_id":21,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":373,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":21,"category_count":373,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-13 17:32:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_status","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}