West Kauai school’s future at stake in lease dispute, supporters rally

Supporters crowded the hallway outside a Līhue courtroom Wednesday as a lease dispute put Kula Aupuni Niihau A Kahelelani Aloha’s Kekaha campus and its future at risk. The fight has pulled in a school that serves Niihau families and is one of the few places where young children can learn through the critically endangered Niihau dialect of Ōlelo Hawaii.

The defense attorney in the case said the loss of a grant had “huge impacts” in the matter, underscoring how quickly a funding problem can become a school stability problem. A related July 23 report said the charter school could open on time until the lease dispute is settled, a narrow window for a campus that sits at the center of West Kauai’s Niihau community.

KANAKA, a New Century Public Charter School in Kekaha, operates under a Hawaii State Public Charter School Commission contract that took effect July 1, 2023 and runs through 2028. Earlier contract documents show the school’s original charter agreement began July 1, 2017, with amendments effective July 1, 2021 and July 1, 2022. The school’s by-laws say its purpose is to provide bilingual education in the Hawaiian language as spoken on Niihau and English for children of families of the Niihau community of Kauai.

That mission makes the lease dispute bigger than a property fight. If the campus cannot operate at full strength, families could face uncertainty over enrollment, staffing, transportation and whether students will continue in the same culturally specific setting. For parents tied to Niihau, the school is not just another public option in West Kauai; it is a place built around a language variety that depends on intentional intergenerational teaching.

The timing adds pressure. The courtroom fight came just weeks before the new school year, when parents and teachers need to know whether classrooms, services and schedules will hold together. Hawaii State Public Charter School Commission records list the school’s mailing address as P.O. Box 610, Kekaha, Hawaii 96752, but the larger question now is whether the campus itself can keep serving the small student population that depends on it.