Lahainaluna High School students gather in the gym for an assembly on Monday, the first day the campus reopened for classes since the Aug. 8 wildfire in Lahaina. Photos courtesy Department of Education

For senior Mo’unga Fifita, going back to her Lahainaluna High campus on Monday “felt like home.”

“Honestly I loved it so much because going back into Lahainaluna, all the memories come in and all the nostalgia comes back,” said Fifita, whose family lost their home in the Aug. 8 wildfire and now are staying in a hotel.

Fifita said there was a sense of unity at the morning assembly where they sang their alma mater and heard an oli, or Hawaiian chant.

“You could feel the mana when they did the oli,” she said.

However, there was one thing she didn’t miss about the campus.

Utrillo

“As a senior, it felt really nice to come back, even though we don’t miss the hills,” she joked of walking around the campus, which is built on a hillside.

Monday marked the first day that Lahainaluna High opened since the Aug. 8 wildfire that scorched the town below it. The state Department of Health determined through soil and water testing and air quality monitoring, along with cleaning of the campuses, that it was safe to reopen Lahaina’s remaining three public schools, the state Department of Education said.

“Being on Lahainaluna’s campus today was just incredible,” DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in a taped interview released by the department. “Watching the buses drive up filled with students at the beginning of school really helped me to know that we made the right decision, students should be back on campus for in-person learning.”

Media was not allowed on the Lahainaluna campus Monday.

Lahaina Intermediate students are scheduled to go back to campus today. Students from Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary go back on Wednesday and will be joined by students from King Kamehameha III Elementary, whose campus was damaged beyond repair by the fire.

A school bus drops off students at the Lahainaluna campus on Monday.

“It’s about those rituals and routines that the students are coming back to and are a part of that really brings everything together for Lahainaluna,” Hayashi added. “And I know it will be the same for Lahaina Intermediate, Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary, and students, faculty and staff from King Kamehameha III.”

Before the fire, the four schools had about 3,000 students between them. During the closure, some transferred to other public or private schools, while others opted for distance learning. Lahainaluna students have been sharing a campus with Kulanihako’i High in Kihei since mid-September.

“So far this morning, energy has been great,” Lahainaluna Principal Richard Carosso said in a taped interview. “We just finished our morning piko, where we recognized what we’ve been through and celebrated being back. Today’s the first day of Homecoming Week, and it couldn’t be more fitting that we’ve come home.”

The school has homecoming activities planned throughout the week, culminating with the Lunas’ first home football game on Saturday against Baldwin High.

“It’s really like good … to get to see my friends and stuff,” senior Teva Loft said. “This campus brings back a lot of good memories from last year. It’s good to come back to that for sure.”

In a taped interview, Loft said he was looking forward to meeting his teachers.

Freshman Megan Utrillo was glad to finally set foot on her home campus, as she attended her first classes as a Luna at Kulanihako’i High.

Utrillo said while she saw friends at Kulanihako’i, she did not see others who were doing distance learning. But on Monday, all were back at the Lahaina campus.

“It felt really good, I miss them so much,” she said.

Of course, navigating the campus as a freshman was a bit of a challenge.

“I had a really hard time finding my classes because I wasn’t sure which building was which,” she said. “I had to ask around.”

When asked if she was concerned about the aftereffects of the fire on the school, Utrillo said she was “a little bit” concerned about the water on campus, so she brought her Hydroflask with her own water to drink.

The DOE has said the water has been tested and is safe.

Parents and teachers have raised concerns in recent weeks about going back to campus in the wake of the fire, pointing out that schools are not far from the burn zone.

On Sunday, the DOH announced preliminary findings of a test on ash from eight homes in the Kula fire, which showed very elevated levels of arsenic along with high levels of lead and cobalt. Testing on Lahaina ash has not been done yet, as DOH awaits the EPA’s removal of hazardous household items, but DOH officials said similar results could be expected in Lahaina, as homes in the impacted areas were constructed around the same time period in Kula.

The DOE said it has air quality monitors at all the three campuses and air filters in the classrooms. There is also an alert system for DOE administration when a change in air quality needs attention.

On Friday, EPA crews began spraying Soiltac on burned areas near the three schools to limit potential exposure to students. The liquid product forms a durable crust on dust and ash to keep it from going airborne or getting into nearby properties or bodies of water.

“I understand that people do have concerns and everyone has the right to their own feelings about the safety,” Carosso said. “The Department of Health and the Department of Education has deemed the campus safe to reopen. I have been up here throughout the last couple of months. For me the data and the science says that our school is safe so I am comfortable being here.”

Hayashi reiterated steps the DOE is taking, which also include continued air quality monitoring along with biweekly wipe tests in classrooms to gauge for any particles settling on surfaces.

A progress report of reopening efforts, including test results, are posted at bit.ly/LahainaSchoolsProgressReport.

The DOE has also developed health and safety guidance with the Department of Health that outlines actions the schools will take whenever there are changes in the air quality, available at bit.ly/ReopeningSafetyGuidance.

* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

Utrillo Lahainaluna High School students gather in the gym for an assembly on Monday, the first day the campus reopened for classes since the Aug. 8 wildfire in Lahaina. Photos courtesy Department of Education A school bus drops off students at the Lahainaluna campus on Monday.

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