Dear Hālau Lōkahi Parents:

As you know, Hālau Lōkahi Charter School will be closing on Friday, May 29, 2015. Hālau Lōkahi and the State Public Charter School Commission would like to provide you with some important information regarding a successful transition for your child.

Hālau Lōkahi and the Commission strongly advise you to enroll your child into a new school before the start of the next school year. We have previously provided information on schooling options, including enrolling your child in his or her assigned Department of Education (DOE) home school, applying for a geographic exception in order to attend another DOE school, applying for admission at another charter school, and home schooling. Information on these options can be found at the following link: http://www.chartercommission.hawaii.gov/#!halau-lokahi-enrollment-options-for-scho/c1kx9. You also may go to the Commission’s home page, http://www.chartercommission.hawaii.gov, and click on “Information & Resources” and then on “Hālau Lōkahi.”

If you intend to opt for home-schooling, you must complete the OCISS Form 4140, Exceptions to Compulsory Attendance and submit the form to your child’s assigned DOE home school. Families of home-schooled students who wish to have their students participate in the Statewide Testing Program would need to contact their DOE home school in order to participate in testing.

If you do not transfer your child to a new school or submit the OCISS Form 4140 (for home schooling) by Friday, May 29, 2015, then at that point Hālau Lōkahi will turn over your child's student records to the Commission. Please contact the Commission staff at (808) 586-3775 or info@spcsc.hawaii.gov if you enroll your child in another school, leave the state, or complete the home schooling forms, and the staff will assist you in completing the transfer for your child.

Please be aware that if, by the start of next school year, your child is not enrolled in a public or private schooI, has not moved to another state, or has not had the appropriate home schooling forms submitted, your child will have to be identified as truant and may have to be referred to Family Court for follow up action.

To ensure that your child has complete and accurate documentation of his or her time at the school, Hālau Lōkahi is finalizing his or her student records, which include such items as test scores, report cards, and completed transcripts. A complete transcript is vitally important to ensure your child receives the proper academic credits earned while attending Hālau Lōkahi, and records management is not something that Hālau Lōkahi performed very well under the former management. The school will be completing these records by Friday, May 29, 2015. You are encouraged to contact Meali'i Prieto at the school at 832-3594 or maeprieto@hotmail.com if you have any concerns regarding your child's records and transcripts.

Finally, Hālau Lōkahi has been attempting without success to contact some parents in order to resolve issues with their children’s attendance, transfers, or student records. If you have been contacted by the school but have not yet responded, it is critically important for the sake of your child that you do so immediately.

Thank you for your attention to this important information, and best wishes for a successful transition for your child.