On this webpage is a history of the controversy regarding Kamehameha Schools' racially exclusionary ("Hawaiian 'preference'") admissions policy, for the year 2011. But first:
A QUICK REVIEW OF EVENTS BEFORE 2011
For general background about the history of Kamehameha Schools and its racially exclusionary admissions policy, with links to webpages covering each year's history of efforts to desegregate the schools since 2002, including full text of all significant news reports and commentaries for each year, see:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/kamschool.html
There have been several lawsuits against Kamehameha Schools' admissions policy. The one that caused the greatest uproar and reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007, got started in 2003.
Following a series of protest marches by thousands of red-shirted supporters of racial segregaton, protesting the mere fact that such a lawsuit was being brought, Judge Alan Kay, in the U.S. District Court in Honolulu, issued a ruling on Monday November 16, 2003 upholding the schools' policy. That ruling was appealed to the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco.
ORAL ARGUMENTS BEFORE THE THREE-JUDGE PANEL OF THE 9TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS WERE HELD ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2004. THE ORAL ARGUMENTS WERE TAPED, AND THE AUDIO FILE WAS LATER MADE AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE OF THE 9TH CIRCUIT COURT. Download is 8.52MB. Dialup internet users should think twice before trying to download such a large file.
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/media.nsf/8DF243E4ECB186DB88256F4300667F53/$file/04-15044.wma?openelement
On July 2, 2005 the three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Judge Kay's decision by a 2-1 vote.
THE 9TH CIRCUIT 45-PAGE DECISION IN PDF FORMAT CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles3/Kamehameha9thCircuit070205.pdf
For analysis of the decision, see the webpage: Kamehameha 9th Circuit Decision: the "Big Picture" and Some Brush-Strokes (demolishing Hawai'i's wall of apartheid one brick at a time)
https://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles3/Kam9thCircuitBigPicture.html
On August 6, 2005 there was a massive red-shirt protest march from the Royal Mausoleum ending with a rally of between 15,000 - 20,000 people at Iolani Palace. The rally included a pro-segregation speech by a red-shirted Governor Linda Lingle, to a crowd that included numerous anti-American signs. Smaller rallies took place on the neighbor islands. For news reports and photos, see:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/kamschool2005.html
On August 23, 2005 Kamehameha Schools filed a petition to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals asking for an en-banc hearing in which perhaps as many as 23 judges would reconsider the 3-judge decision; and Hawaii Attorney general Mark Bennett filed papers supporting the petition.
On December 5, 2006 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its en-banc decision by a panel of 15 judges. They voted 8-7 to uphold Kamehameha's admissions policy. Here is the full text of the 110-page en-banc decision in pdf format directly from the 9th Circuit Court website. The first 53 pages are the majority ruling, and the last 57 pages are the minority dissents.
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/53333A1C2A376D138825723B005F9EE5/$file/0415044.pdf?openelement
During 2007 plaintiff filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking a writ of certiorari whereby the Court would agree to hear the case. Each year there are thousands of cases appealed to the Supreme Court, but only about a hundred are actually taken up. During April 2007 there were three weeks when the case was on the docket for the weekly conference of the Justices to consider whether to grant certiorari (take the case), but no decision on certiorari was forthcoming. It turned out that a settlement was being worked on.
On Monday May 14, 2007 it was announced that a settlement had been reached, and the petition for certiorari was therefore dismissed by the Supreme Court by agreement between the parties. Terms of the settlement were never disclosed, although it was speculated that Kamehameha agreed to pay plaintiff's attorney fees and to provide a generous amount of money for the student (who had by now graduated from a different high school) to attend college.
During the summer of 2007 Honolulu Attorney David Rosen announced that he would be looking for plaintiffs to take up a similar lawsuit -- plaintiffs who would agree never to drop or settle the case until the Supreme Court made a decision. Rosen's theory was that such a lawsuit could work its way rapidly up to the Supreme Court since each court along the way had already ruled and could be expected to rule the same way again promptly. However, by the end of 2007 there were no announcements regarding any actual new plaintiffs.
During 2009 it was revealed that Kamehameha paid John Doe $7 Million to settle the desegregation lawsuit in 2006 moments before the Supreme Court would have granted certiorari to take up the case. Kamehameha's annual report said its assets were now worth $9.1 Billion. Attorneys Eric Grant and David Rosen filed a new desegregation lawsuit against Kamehameha, and Kamehameha filed a lawsuit for breach of the nondisclosure clause of the previous settlement. A court-appointed panel recommended doubling Kamehameha trustee salaries to about $200,000, bringing back memories of the million dollar salaries a few years previously. Kamehameha challenged the anonymity of the four plaintiffs in the new Grant/Rosen lawsuit, and Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren ruled that the plaintiffs' names must be made public if they wish the case to go forward (plaintiffs are in fear of violence). Plaintiffs appealed Kurren's ruling to Kurren's boss District Judge J. Michael Seabright, who upheld the decision. Plaintiffs then appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which had not yet reached a decision by the end of 2009.
On other issues during 2009: The trust fund lost 24% of its value in the financial market decline from June 2008 through June 2009; trustees gave themselves a 10% pay cut in 2009; the 384 page book "Wayfinding Through The Storm" by Gavan Daws and Na Leo o Kamehameha described an atmosphere of terrorism on campus during the scandals and power struggles of 10 years previously, based on 250 interviews with students, teachers, administrators, and politicians; Kamehameha Schools staff on Hawaii Island voted to be represented by a labor union; repeated sexual assaults on a girl boarding at the high school on the Kapalama campus were unreported to police until the girls' parents reported it, causing an uproar among parents and the public; a teacher was fired after it became public that he had previously been banned 17 years ago from teaching and ministry with minors by his religious order due to sexual misconduct in a Wisconsin school; Kamehameha gave grants totaling $7.2 Million to public charter schools
Quick summary of events in 2010: The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the validity of Kamehameha Schools' admissions policy filed in 2008 by four students. The students' parents demanded anonymity for fear of violence against the students, but the court ruled that there was no proof that violence was likely and public access to court proceedings outweighs fear of a mere possibility. However, dissenting Justices took note of "kill haole day" and other indications of danger. Developer Jeffrey R. Stone donated 300 acres of Makaha Valley land to anchor a Kamehameha Schools Learning Community and affordable housing for native Hawaiians. Although Kamehameha maintains a racially exclusionary admissions policy for its 3 main campuses, the new Learning Community will be open to all area residents. Kamehameha cut the salaries of its top executives because of the sharp economic downturn. Kamehameha Maui admitted a student with no native blood to the 10th grade in an ongoing effort to lay legal groundwork for future defense against claims it is racially exclusionary. Apparently a memoir and movie are under development about Kalani Rosell, who broke the color barrier at Kamehameha School.
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For general background about the history of Kamehameha Schools and its racially exclusionary admissions policy, with links to webpages covering each year's history of efforts to desegregate the schools since 2002, including full text of all significant news reports and commentaries for each year, see:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/kamschool.html
NOW BEGINS A COMPILATION OF NEWS REPORTS AND COMMENTARIES DURING 2011, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, REGARDING EFFORTS TO DESEGREGATE KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS.
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** Note from website editor Ken Conklin: It appears Kamehameha Schools sent out a press release in hopes the media would praise Kamehameha for its outreach efforts, and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser published some or all of the contents without any objective review or analysis.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110131_Hawaiian_education_funding_up.html
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, January 31, 2011
Hawaiian education funding up
By Mary Vorsino
As part of a push to extend services to more native Hawaiian children statewide, Kamehameha Schools spent $102 million on educational outreach programs last fiscal year, up from $57 million in 2006.
Spending on outreach was up 5 percent from fiscal year 2009.
Altogether, the outreach programs -- through school campuses and community groups -- served some 45,000 children and their caregivers, according to an annual report for fiscal year 2010 released last week.
About 10 percent of the spending, or $31 million, went to public school programs (from homework centers to summer enrichment programs to after-school help for at-risk youth), compared with $28 million the year before.
"Most people think of our (three) campuses when they see the name Kamehameha Schools," Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Officer Dee Jay Mailer said. "But what many don't realize is that we support talented young students in community programs and public schools throughout Hawaii."
Kamehameha Schools also continued to expand its literacy instruction initiative, which helps public school students improve their reading skills.
The program is now in 21 schools, eight of which were added last fiscal year.
"What the (Kamehameha Schools) trustees wanted was that children, no matter where they are, would be successful in whatever they choose for their future," said Phyllis Unebasami, literacy program division director. "And we know that literacy for anyone is a gateway for career or college."
In recent years, some have criticized the trust for not doing enough to support the education of all Hawaiian children, not just those who attend its campuses. That criticism, in part, led the trust in 2005 to develop a strategic plan for extending its outreach and helping more native Hawaiian kids.
The $102 million spent for outreach education programs last fiscal year compares with about $129 million spent for programs at the three Kamehameha Schools campuses on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island, a spokeswoman said. Additionally, the trust spent $68 million for major repairs and capital improvement projects, debt financing and other programs.
The spending -- $299 million in all -- represents about 4 percent of the worth of the Kamehameha Schools endowment, which increased 8 percent last fiscal year, to $7.8 billion from $7.2 billion, the annual report said.
Spending on outreach last fiscal year, which ended June 30, included:
» $7.9 million for teacher training and support.
» $12 million in preschool and kindergarten scholarships.
» $12.6 million for native Hawaiians attending college.
» $9.1 million for Hawaiian-focused charter schools.
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http://www.hawaiireporter.com/kamehameha-schools-endowment-rises-to-7-82-billion
Hawaii Reporter, February 2, 2011
Kamehameha Schools’ Endowment rises to $7.82 Billion
BY GREG WILES
Kamehameha Schools’ endowment grew by $633.5 million during its most recent fiscal year as it regained some of the losses sustained during the 2008 Wall Street melt down.
The charitable trust’s latest annual report shows the fair value of the endowment climbed to $7.82 billion at the end of its fiscal year in June 2010.
But while earning a 13.5 percent return on investments, the endowment remains below the $9.44 billion Kamehameha Schools had at the end of the 2008 fiscal year, just prior to the market downturn that affected investment funds worldwide.
Kamehameha Schools, which is believed to have the largest endowment of any private primary and secondary school in the nation, reports annually on its finances and educational efforts. The endowment supports the trust’s educational mission, which focuses on native Hawaiian students.
It provides educational support through a variety of means, including the operation of private schools on Oahu, Maui and the island of Hawaii along with 31 preschool sites statewide. The trust is also Hawaii’s largest private landowner.
Kamehameha Schools’ Endowment
Year Endowment Total
2009-2010 $7.82 billion
2008-2009 $7.19 billion
2007-2008 $9.44 billion
2006-2007 $9.06 billion
2005-2006 $7.66 billion
Source: Kamehameha Schools’ annual reports
The report also shows the trust’s total return of 13.5 percent beat a 7.0 percent benchmark for like funds during the year.
Kamehameha Schools reported that since 1999 it had averaged a 7.7 percent return, or nearly double the benchmark rate.
The report also shows:
The trust spent 3.8 percent of its endowment – or $299.2 million – on education and support costs during the most recently completed fiscal year. That marked a roughly 16 percent increase over the prior year.
Compensation for Kamehameha Schools’ five trustees fell to $470,475 or almost $52,000 from a year prior. Trustees receive a $27,000 annual retainer, plus $1,350 for each meeting they attend.
Of the trusts’ $5.3 billion in financial investments, more than half ($2.85 billion) were in hedge and private equity funds at the end of June. The trust also had roughly $700 million invested in common and preferred stocks; another $745 million was in debt instruments such as government bonds.
Kamehameha Schools reported the number of students enrolled at its preschools and K-12 campuses remained roughly unchanged during the year at about 6,900.
But the trust said it was continuing to expand its educational programs and collaborations with public schools. During the year it served more than 45,418 children, parents and caregivers, or more than 5,000 more than it had planned on serving.
“We have been able to more than stay the course over the last two years despite turbulent economic times,” said Dee Jay Mailer, Kamehameha Schools chief executive officer, in the annual report.
The $299.2 million of education and services spending included $31 million spent in support of state Department of Education programs and services, while another $129 million was spent on campus-based programs.
The trust noted it also provided $9.1 million for 17 Hawaiian-focused start-up and conversion public charter schools and $7.9 million in educator training and support for Teach For America participants.
Kamehameha Schools said it also spent tens of millions more in providing scholarships to native Hawaiians attending pre-schools, kindergarten programs, college and other post-high school programs.
** Note from website editor Ken Conklin:
Several of the most recent annual reports, including this one, are available on the KSBE website. The full report can be downloaded, along with report on financial activities, consolidated financial statements, and the community outreach programs. Go to
http://www.ksbe.edu/index.php?topic=annualreports
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/119221149.html
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, April 4, 2011 Breaking News posted at 2:16 PM
Kamehameha President Chun to leave in June 2012
By Star-Advertiser Staff
Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama President and Headmaster Michael J. Chun announced today he will resign at the end of the 2011-12 school year.
“The next 15 months will allow Kamehameha Schools to conduct a thorough search for the leader who will build on the good work of the KSK staff and faculty over the last two decades. I believe KSK is well-positioned for this transition,” Chun said in a statement.
The 2011-12 school year will be Chun’s 24th as head of Kamehameha Schools.
“On behalf of Kamehameha Schools, I thank him for his dedication to fulfilling Pauahi’s vision and for 23 years of leadership marked by professionalism and integrity and founded on Christian values and deep aloha for our haumäna and their ‘ohana, our faculty and our staff. He will retire in June 2012 as the longest serving president in the history of Kamehameha Schools,” Kamehameha CEO Dee Jay Mailer said in the statement.
Chun was apponited president of the Kapalama campus in April 1988. He is a 1961 graduate of Kamehameha and is the school's 10th president and headmaster, the school's website says.
He is the longest-serving president in school history, Mailer said.
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20110405_Kamehameha_headmaster_to_retire_after_23_years.html
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, April 5, 2011
Kamehameha headmaster to retire after 23 years
By Mary Vorsino
Michael J. Chun, who helped lead Kamehameha Schools through troubled times and made big improvements as president and Kapalama campus headmaster during the last 23 years, has announced he will step down in 15 months.
Chun, 67, is a beloved fixture in the Kamehameha community, and news of his departure hit many hard yesterday.
"I cried when I heard," said Gerry Johansen, Kamehameha Schools alumni relations administrator. "Michael has been a pillar of strength and one that embodies the true spirit of aloha."
Julian Ako, principal of the high school at the Kapalama campus, said Chun represents "Mr. Kamehameha in every aspect of the word.
"Mike Chun has supported our students in every endeavor," said Ako, who was Chun's classmate. "He's a wonderful role model."
In looking for Chun's replacement, Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Officer DeeJay Mailer said, "We have cast a very, very large global net."
She added, "We have 15 months to find a great leader that's going to pick up from where Dr. Chun laid a very strong foundation."
The announcement comes as the Kapalama campus is in the midst of a three-year, $118 million makeover, which includes construction of a native Hawaiian cultural center, redevelopment of the athletic complex and big changes at the middle school campus and dormitories.
About 3,200 students in kindergarten through 12th grade attend the 600-acre Kapalama campus, the oldest and largest of Kamehameha's three campuses.
Chun, a 1961 graduate of Kamehameha, said he is proud he got to see the redevelopment work begin and to have been at the helm during some immense changes for the school.
Chief among them, he said, was a shift for the school into a college preparatory campus — and one that taught students to embrace their Hawaiian culture.
Chun said Kamehameha students know they will be successful "not despite their Hawaiian ancestry, but because they're Hawaiian."
Under Chun's leadership, Mailer added, Kamehameha "became a Hawaiian school rather than a school for Hawaiians."
Chun was named president of Kamehameha Schools in 1988, and in 2000 was given the choice of remaining at the Kapalama campus as headmaster or becoming the new chief education officer overseeing all the schools and education programs.
He chose the former, saying that he wanted to stay where his heart was, with the students and staff at the Kapalama campus.
Although serving as headmaster, Chun kept the title of president of Kamehameha Schools.
That title will retire with him.
Chun weathered some difficult years at Kamehameha, including a turbulent period in the 1990s when former trustee Lokelani Lindsey tried to strip him of his power.
That led to an uprising on campus and the eventual removal of all five of the organization's trustees.
Also during his tenure, Kamehameha Schools saw several legal challenges because of its admissions policy, which favors students of Hawaiian ancestry.
But Chun said his toughest days were following several "sensitive public incidents" involving students.
Those included a 2009 case in which a middle school student alleged she was sexually assaulted by two classmates at a dormitory.
"The (trustees) controversy ... in the late '90s had to deal with adults and had nothing to do with the kids," he said. "When we had to deal with over the years, two or three very sensitive public incidents that had involved our students, those are the times that I think that I felt the burden was very, very heavy."
After retiring, Chun said he plans to remain active in the community and is looking at other possible opportunities in education.
Mailer said the school will be seeking some key qualifications in Chun's successor: Candidates should have a proven record in education, know what "21st-century education looks like" and have a foundation in working with native people.
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** A "breaking news" story posted online had different details from the same story reported in the print edition the following morning; so both versions are provided below.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/120585774.html
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, April 24, 2011
Breaking news posted at 7:20 PM
Committee seeks candidates for Kamehameha Schools trustee
By Star-Advertiser Staff
A screening committee has been formed to conduct the search for someone to fill an expected vacancy on the Kamehameha Schools board of trustees.
Applications are being taken for a new trustee to replace Diane Plotts on the board that oversees Kamehameha Schools and its multibillion-dollar investment portfolio.
The trustee screening committee, appointed by the state Probate Court, will present a list of three candidates to the Probate Court. From that list, the court will name the new trustee. The appointee would qualify for a five-year term and could be eligible for an additional five-year term, to be determined by the court.
Plotts’ term expires in June. The other members are Corbett Kalama, chairman, J. Douglas Ing, Micah Kane, and Janeen-Ann Ahulani Olds.
Members of the trustee screening committee are Richard Coons, Wendy B. Crabb, George “Keoki” Freeland, Cheryl L. Kauhane Lupenui, Benjamin M. Matsubara, Wesley Park and Michael E. Rawlins.
Trustees are paid $122,000 per year; the chairperson receives $158,000.
Candidates should submit a resume, cover letter and a statement on their view of the role of a trustee; their vision, goals and objectives for the trust estate; and what they would do to attain those goals.
Nominations should be sent to Trustee Screening Committee, c/o Inkinen & Associates, 1003 Bishop St., Suite 477, Honolulu, HI 96813. Applications may be faxed to 521-2380 or e-mailed to jobs@inkinen.com. The deadline is June 10.
Kamehameha Schools is a private, educational, charitable trust founded and endowed by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Kamehameha Schools operates a statewide educational system enrolling more than 6,700 students of Hawaiian ancestry at K-12 campuses on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii and at 31 preschool sites statewide.
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/newswatch/20110425_Newswatch.html
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Newswatch For Monday, April 25, 2011
By Star-Advertiser staff
Kamehameha Schools to hire trustee
A screening committee has been formed to conduct the search for someone to fill an expected vacancy on the Kamehameha Schools board of trustees.
Applications are being taken for a new trustee to replace Diane Plotts on the board that oversees Kamehameha Schools and its multibillion-dollar investment portfolio.
The screening committee will present a list of three candidates to the Probate Court. From that list the court will name the new trustee. The appointee would qualify for a five-year term and could be eligible for an additional five-year term.
Plotts' term expires in June. The other members are Corbett Kalama, chairman; J. Douglas Ing; Micah Kane; and Janeen-Ann Ahulani Olds.
Trustees are paid $122,000 per year; the chairman receives $158,000.
Candidates should submit a resume, cover letter and a statement on their view of the role of a trustee; their vision, goals and objectives for the trust estate; and what they would do to attain those goals.
Nominations should be sent to Trustee Screening Committee, c/o Inkinen & Associates, 1003 Bishop St., Suite 477, Honolulu, HI 96813. Applications may be faxed to 521-2380 or emailed to jobs@inkinen.com.
The deadline is June 10.
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20110515_Kamehameha_Schools_CEO_sees_salary_dip.html
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, May 15, 2011
Kamehameha Schools CEO sees salary dip
The 3.1% drop comes amid a $436 million rise in net assets
By Kristen Consillio
Despite a $436 million increase in net assets, Kamehameha Schools' top executive's salary fell by nearly $17,000, or 3.1 percent, in the fiscal year ended June 30.
Dee Jay Mailer, chief executive officer of the state's largest private landowner and charitable trust, received total compensation of $531,998 last fiscal year, compared with $548,885 the previous year, while net assets from financial investments and returns on real estate holdings for the trust rose 7.9 percent to $5.9 billion from $5.5 billion, according to docu ments filed Friday with the Internal Revenue Service.
Executives across the nonprofit sector have taken pay cuts in recent years as the industry seeks to recover from the lingering affects of the recession.
"Throughout most of the nonprofit sector, the recession has not ended," said Hugh Jones, supervising deputy attorney general of the Department of the Attorney General, Tax Division. "Kamehameha Schools is extremely unique in that it's an endowed charity, whereas most of the charitable sector has to rely on donations and grants from federal and state agencies and they're still in a period of very tight, lean times."
Mailer's lower compensation is the result of a 5 percent reduction in the base pay for Kamehameha's executive management team for the fiscal year prior to the economic recovery, said Kekoa Paulsen, Kamehameha spokesman. Total compensation went up for some due to reimbursements and benefits.
"Compensation is not tied to performance of the trust investments in the same fiscal year," he said. "There's that lag when budgets are set and when the recovery started."
Future compensation may be determined by last year's investment performance, he said.
The trustees' pay is set by a court-appointed committee, one of the reforms that came out of a Bishop Estate controversy that changed how the trustees' compensation is set. Executive compensation is established by the trustees.
Nationally, CEOs of nonprofit hospitals, universities and foundations with similar-size assets earned about $650,000 in total compensation, including benefits and reimbursements, in 2010, according to ERI Economic Research Institute in Wash ing ton, D.C., which researches nonprofit and for-profit salaries for the nation's largest companies. There are no other elementary and secondary schools with comparable assets in the nation, said Linda Lampkin, ERI research director.
"Most schools would pay a lot lower, but of course they don't have the responsibility of managing the asset base," she said. "This is certainly not an outrageous salary. It's well within the range that one would expect."
Kirk Belsby, Kamehameha's vice president of endowment and the second-highest-paid executive, earned $483,809 in total compensation, down 2.8 percent from the previous year. Christopher Pating, vice president of strategic planning, brought home $381,975, or 0.2 percent more than the year earlier. Elizabeth Hokada, director of financial assets, reported total compensation of $355,752, up 2.6 percent. Michael Loo, vice president of finance and administration and the fifth-highest-paid employee, saw his total compensation fall 1 percent to $312,103.
Trustee Nainoa Thompson brought home the highest pay for a board member at $106,050, down 7 percent from year before. Trustee Diane Plotts earned $98,850, up 1.4 percent, while Corbett Kalama and J. Douglas Ing both made $92,100, down 9.7 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Trustee Robert Kihune, who worked a partial year to fill out his five-year term, earned $72,300, a decrease of 25.8 percent. Micah Kane, who replaced Kihune, reported total compensation of $33,300.
Kamehameha educated about 45,400 children through its preschool and campus programs, and scholarships and community partnerships during the fiscal year.
The trust, created in 1884 by the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, spent $299 million — $41.3 million, or 16 percent, higher than fiscal year 2009. That includes spending of $129 million on its campuses at Kapalama, Pukalani and Keaau, and $102 million on community education programs, $31 million of which supported Hawaii public schools.
"It's commendable that the executive team at Kamehameha Schools have tightened their belts consistent with what the rest of nonprofit sector has had to do," Jones said.
** A chart showing the trustees' photos and salaries, together with the salaries of 19 top executives of Bishop Estate, is at
http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20110515_newsKAMbig.jpg
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/121893643.html
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, May 16, 2011
Breaking news posted at 5:40 AM Hawaii time
U.S. Supreme Court declines Kamehameha anonoymity case
By Associated Press
WASHINGTON >> The Supreme Court has declined to hear a dispute over whether students challenging a private Hawaiian school system's admissions policy must be identified.
The court on Monday left in place lower court rulings against four non-Hawaiian students who object to the Kamehameha Schools' policy that gives admissions preference to those of Hawaiian ancestry. Only a few non-Hawaiians have ever been admitted.
The challengers wanted to file their suit anonymously because of concerns about public humiliation and retaliation if they are identified.
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** The breaking news report above was replaced later in the day with new content under the same URL, thereby "disappearing" the original posting. Following is the version as of 1 PM Hawaii time (perhaps earlier); the new version still says it was posted at 5:40 AM (that's now false for this new version)
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/121893643.html
U.S. Supreme Court declines Kamehameha admissions case
By Ken Kobayashi
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge by four anonymous students to the Kamehameha Schools’ admissions policy giving preference to students with Hawaiian blood.
The court, without comment, announced this morning that it denied the request by the four non-Hawaiian students, who feared they would be subject to racial attacks if their identities were disclosed.
Today’s decision ends the lawsuit by the four challenging the schools’ admissions program, said Kamehameha Chief Executive Officer Dee Jay Mailer and the schools’ trustees.
“We have believed from the outset that if this case were to proceed it should do so as openly and honestly as possible, and we are gratified that the courts agree,” they said in a message on the schools’ website.
A three-judge panel of U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed last year a ruling by Hawaii federal judges who denied the students bid to proceed anonymously.
The appeals court also refused to convene a large panel to rehear the case, but two appeals judges dissented, citing a “racially charged environment” in Hawaii.
The four students wanted the high court to review the appeals court ruling.
The four filed their lawsuit after an unidentified student and his mother settled their lawsuit challenging the schools’ admissions policy for $7 million in 2007.
The settlement was reached before the high court was to decide whether to hear that case.
** Later a link was provided to download the decision of the 3-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court, which now remains as the final decision. But the link was to some sort of private web reader which did not work properly.
Jacob Doe v. Kamehameha Schools
http://www.scribd.com/doc/55577983/Jacob-Doe-v-Kamehameha-Schools
** Here is a link that does actually produce that decision:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles3/Kamehameha9thCircuit070205.pdf
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** Final version in print edition
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110517_court_rejects_appeal_of_kamehameha_case.html
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, May 17, 2011
Court rejects appeal of Kamehameha case
The Supreme Court's refusal ends a lawsuit challenging the schools' admissions policy
By Ken Kobayashi
The last remaining court challenge to Kamehameha Schools' admissions policy giving preference to native Hawaiians came to an end yesterday when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of four unidentified students who contended the practice violates federal civil rights laws.
The court denied without comment a request by the non-Hawaiian students to proceed with their lawsuit without disclosing their identities because they feared racial attacks.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that federal judges in Hawaii did not err when they found the students' fears were "unreasonable."
The students had asked the high court to review the appeals court ruling.
"We have believed from the outset that if this case were to proceed it should do so as openly and honestly as possible, and we are gratified that the courts agree," Kamehameha Chief Executive Officer Dee Jay Mailer and the schools' trustees said in a message on the schools' website.
Ann Botticelli, the schools' spokeswoman, said there is no other lawsuit challenging the admissions policy.
The students' lawyers, Eric Grant of Sacramento, Calif., and David Rosen of Honolulu, issued a statement saying they were disappointed because the refusal "means the illegality of Kamehameha's policy will continue to evade scrutiny."
The high court's action "is in no way an endorsement of that policy," they said.
"We have always believed, and continue to believe, that disclosing the names of minor children in face of the documented threats would be reckless," the lawyers said. "Our clients' parents agree and have made the responsible decision not to risk the safety of their children.
"Accordingly, the present case is finished."
The lawyers did not say whether they would represent others willing to disclose their names and challenge the admissions policy.
But in their statement, they said, "Regrettably, we believe that this precedent will make it extremely difficult for the illegality of Kamehameha Schools' racially exclusionary admissions policy to be resolved in the courts."
The suit was filed after an unnamed student and his mother settled their lawsuit challenging the admissions policy for $7 million in 2007.
Kamehameha Schools did not object to that student proceeding anonymously, but argued for disclosure after the four filed their suit.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren and U.S. District Judge Michael Sea bright ruled the four could not proceed anonymously and dismissed the suit.
In March last year a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision by the federal judges in Hawaii.
In November the appeals court turned down a request by the students' lawyers for a larger panel to rehear the case. Two appeals judges wrote strong dissents, mentioning "Kill Haole Day" at Hawaii's schools and contending that the four would be endangered in a "racially charged environment."
In defending their decision, the three judges who issued the earlier ruling pointed out that the names of juveniles in other significant civil rights cases had been disclosed, including the landmark 1954 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that outlawed segregation.
Grant and Rosen were not able to persuade the justices to take the case. Of some 10,000 requests for high court review, the justices accept only about 75 to 80 cases, according to the court.
Botticelli declined to say how much the schools paid in legal fees to defend the policy. The admissions policy has been the focus of court cases for years.
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** Final version of story as published nationwide by Associated Press
http://hosted2.ap.org/HIHON/117a0477c44849128ee910aa1d0181d9/Article_2011-05-16-Supreme%20Court-Hawaiian%20School/id-15e6124411544869bb1a3c885f32f40d
May 16, 2011
Court nixes case over anonymity at Hawaiian school
MARK NIESSE, Associated Press
HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a dispute over whether to identify students challenging a private school system's admissions policy that gives preference to those of Hawaiian ancestry.
The court's action ends the lawsuit and leaves in place lower court rulings against four non-Hawaiian students who objected to the Kamehameha Schools' policy.
The challengers, who applied for admission to Kamehameha in the 2008-09 school year, wanted to file their lawsuit anonymously because of concerns about public humiliation and retaliation if they were identified.
A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2009, but the students' attorneys appealed and asked for the case to move forward while maintaining the students' anonymity.
"We have believed from the outset that if this case were to proceed, it should do so as openly and honestly as possible, and we are gratified that the courts agree," Kamehameha Schools said in a statement signed by CEO Dee Jay Mailer and other school officials.
The students contended in their lawsuit that the private school system's preference for Native Hawaiians is at odds with federal civil rights laws. Only a few non-Hawaiians have ever been admitted to Kamehameha Schools.
Attorneys for the students, Eric Grant and David Rosen, had argued that the students should be able to remain anonymous because of threats posted on the Internet and hostile remarks attached to the comments sections on local news stories about the admissions controversy.
"The four child-plaintiffs in this case sought to use pseudonyms to protect themselves from the serious documented threats to their physical safety," the attorneys said in a statement Monday. "Regrettably, we believe that this precedent will make it extremely difficult for the illegality of Kamehameha Schools' racially exclusionary admissions policy to be resolved in the courts. All of Hawaii has suffered as a result."
The Supreme Court's decision preserves a series of rulings and appeals dating to October 2008, when U.S. Magistrate Barry Kurren first ruled that the names of the children opposing the admissions policy should be made public.
Kurren said in his ruling that the severity of threats against the students didn't justify keeping their names secret. He said at most, they'd have a "reasonable fear of social ostracization."
A $9.1 billion nonprofit trust that operates Kamehameha Schools was established in 1883 by the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.
The trust dedicated to educating Hawaiian children is one of the nation's largest charities and the state's largest private landowner with more than 360,000 acres.
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http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=other&pnum=26&refresh=Lo719Z0kNw81&EID=11f4cbfe-40f7-45fc-b7fb-d4b3161c64eb&skip=&p=26
Pacific Business News, August 5, 2011, p 26 of online edition
Kamehameha land sales raise questions
Transactions are rare, but School says properties not part of trust's core assets
by Janis L. Magin , Pacific Business News
Kamehameha Schools has sold four parcels of commercial land in Hawaii this year and has plans to sell four more properties, including 13.6 acres beneath the Sears Distribution Center in Pearl City.
The rare sales of income-producing legacy lands - lands willed to the trust by the late Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop that are under long-term ground leases to businesses - have netted Hawaii's largest private landowner more than $26.8 million to date. And the sales of the four other properties will bring in tens of millions of dollars more.
Kamehameha Schools' portfolio of commercial properties accounts for only 1,500 of its total 365,000 acres, but they have a collective value that's about a third of its total endowment of $7.8 billion, said Marcy Fleming, a transactions manager in the trust's commercial real estate division.
The trust is selling the eight properties - already sold is the land beneath M. Dyer & Sons' Pearl City warehouse, fees to office condominiums in the Charles Kendall Building and 1060 Bishop St. in downtown Honolulu and the Castle Professional Building in Kaneohe - because they are single parcels located outside the trust's core assets in Kakaako, Kapalama, Moiliili and Haleiwa, Fleming said.
The trust has hired Eastdil Secured to market the 13.6 acres underneath the Sears Distribution Center in Pearl City. Sears declined to bid on the land, Fleming said.
Colliers Monroe Friedlander is marketing the Newtown Square office building in Aiea, which the trust owns in fee simple, and Kamehameha Schools is negotiating with the lessees of two other commercial properties to buy the fee, she said.
While the sales of those properties are bringing in millions of dollars, it also means that those properties will no longer generate income for Kamehameha Schools' primary mission under the princess' will, to educate the children of Hawaii.
The trust, formerly known as Bishop Estate, owns and operates the Kamehameha Schools campuses on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island.
"If you're selling the land to spend it on something else, you're depleting the legacy," said Oswald Stender, who was a Bishop Estate trustee for nine years and a vocal critic of his former colleagues.
Stender, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, is also the former CEO of the Estate of James Campbell, which developed Kapolei, and is currently a trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
"They just seem to be on the march to create cash, and I don't know what they're going to use the cash for," he said.
The proceeds are not earmarked and will go into the general fund for education, Fleming said.
Kamehameha Schools officials say the sales are about selling noncore assets.
Less than half of 1 percent of the trust's 365,000 acres of land is in its commercial real estate portfolio, yet those 1,500 acres generate $100 million per year in revenue, a third of what the trust spends on education each year, Fleming said.
Selling land under a long-term ground lease is a double-edged sword, said Steve Sofos, president of Sofos Realty Corp., who has clients that lease from Kamehameha Schools.
"It's great that they're selling property to the lessees, as it allows the lessees to renovate the properties and have a nice first-class property," he said. "But the other side of the sword is that it takes away income to the estate."
It's rare for Kamehameha Schools to sell its commercial land - in addition to its planned redevelopment sites in Kakaako, Moiliili and Haleiwa, the trust also owns strategic pieces of resort land in Waikiki, industrial land in Halawa Valley and Salt Lake and commercial land in Windward Oahu. The trust also holds commercial land on the Big Island in Hilo and on the Kona side in Keauhou.
"It's very unusual," Stender said. "At least when I was there, the whole mantra was - you hold the land, you keep the land.
"You sell the residential land because that has very little economic return on value," he said, referring to the trust's conversion of its vast residential leased land to fee simple, a process that began 20 years ago. "You keep all the industrial and commercial land because that's where the wealth is."
Developer Peter Savio, who handled lease-to-fee sales for the trust in the 1990s, said that it makes sense for the trust to sell "remnant" assets unconnected to other holdings to generate higher returns elsewhere.
"To me, the art of real estate is always creating value, not maintaining value," he said. "If Bishop Estate maintained value, they'd be out of business in 100 years. They need to constantly create value."
The trust's most recent dispositions of land occurred in 2007 and 2009. First, there was the swap with Robertson Properties Group, in which Kamehameha Schools acquired the 1.7-acre Varsity Theater site in Moiliili in exchange for the old Kamehameha Drive-In site in Aiea, Fleming said. Los Angeles-based Robertson Properties recently unveiled plans for a mixed-use redevelopment of the old drive-in site.
Then, in an unrelated transaction, the trust sold the land beneath the Kulana Nani affordable housing project in Kaneohe to the City and County of Honolulu in exchange for land in Kakaako.
The four parcels that sold in May and June total fewer than six acres, according to tax records. But each sold for far more than its assessed value, which could drive up prices for ground lessees in other areas during rent renegotiations.
M. Dyer & Sons paid $9 million for the fee to the ground beneath the building it's owned since 1983, but the total assessed value - for the land and the building - is a little more than $6.2 million, according to data from Title Guaranty.
"It's a belief in the future," said Rebecca Parker, M. Dyer & Sons president, who declined to comment further on the purchase, citing a confidentiality agreement.
Castle Medical Center paid $7 million for the land beneath its medical office building in Kaneohe. The land is assessed at just under $2.85 million, while the building is assessed at $9.3 million, for a total assessed value of $12.1 million.
The state's largest public workers union, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, paid nearly $2.7 million for the fee for its office condos at 888 Mililani St. American Savings Bank and several other condo owners also purchased the fee for their units for prices ranging from $62,800 to $500,000, according to data from Title Guaranty.
An entity owned by businessman Duane Kurisu purchased the fee under 1060 Bishop St. for $8.15 million.
Kamehameha Schools officials did not say why the sales were occurring this year, when commercial real estate sales are still considered soft because of the down economy. But Sofos noted that lessees will often pay more for the property they already occupy because it is cheaper than buying elsewhere and moving.
It may also help stimulate the economy, as lessees become more willing to fund improvements to property they own, Sofos said.
But the trust, and the schools, will feel the effect of selling income-producing property in the future, Stender said.
"For the long term, and that's the sadness of this, in the long term that's where it's going to hurt," he said. "When you continuously deplete your source of earnings, when you start to deplete those things, it's going to start to show."
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http://www.hawaiireporter.com/?p=39564
Hawaii Reporter, September 8, 2011
Kamehameha Schools $2 Million Trial To Feature Anonymous Testimony
BY JIM DOOLEY -
An anonymous mother and child who collected a $7 million legal settlement from Kamehameha Schools in 2007 will remain unidentified even when they testify in a Hilo trial next month over the schools’ demand for return of $2 million.
Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura said he plans to allow the pair to testify "by telephone" to preserve their anonymity. The pair claim their lives have been threatened because they challenged the schools' Hawaiians-first admissions policy, then accepted $7 million to drop their federal lawsuit when it was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Attorneys for Kamehameha Schools have protested Nakamura's decision, calling it unprecedented and arguing that trial jurors will be prevented from adequately assessing the veracity of the defendants because their demeanor, facial expressions and overall appearance will be hidden when they are called to testify.
“How can you assess anyone’s credibility when they’re cowering in a cave somewhere?” said Paul Alston, lead attorney for Kamehameha Schools.
But Nakamura granted the anonymity request from defense lawyers, who have argued that the physical safety of the pair – identified only as Jane and John Doe -- could be jeopardized if their identities are made public.
“The Does claim to be deathly afraid that they will be harmed physically, not just shunned socially, if their identities become known,” Alston said.
“These allegations of fear are unsupported by the facts,” Alston said.
Ken Kuniyuki, attorney for the Does, declined comment.
Jane and John Doe sued Kamehameha Schools in federal court in 2003, alleging that the schools’ admissions policy, which favors students of Hawaiian ancestry, violates federal civil rights laws.
The Kamehameha Schools were established under the 1884 will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who endowed the institution with vast landholdings that formed the basis for the non-profit's present day fortune, estimated at $7 billion to $8 billion.
Formerly known as the Bishop Estate, Kamehameha Schools’ wealth and charitable mission give the institution a central role in Hawaii society. Thousands of part-Hawaiian students, from kindergarten through high school, are educated annually at campuses on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island.
Tens of thousands more children of Hawaiian ancestry receive outreach educational assistance annually from the schools.
Kamehameha Schools is one of the wealthiest charitable institutions in the world and is the largest private landowner in Hawaii.
Terms of the 2007 legal settlement were a closely-held secret until private attorney John Goemans disclosed the $7 million figure to the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper in 2008.
Goemans filed or instigated a variety of legal challenges to policies favoring Native Hawaiians, such as the admissions criteria at Kamehameha Schools and voting rights at the state-supported Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
He helped plan the 2003 suit, finding the plaintiffs and recruiting California lawyer Eric Grant to litigate it. Goemans died in 2009 of pancreatic cancer.
Goemans insisted he was not bound by a confidentiality agreement which covered all parties to the $7 million settlement.
The agreement contained a $2 million penalty clause for any breach of confidentiality.
Goemans said he was not a party to the deal, never signed it and personally opposed it.
He also asserted that Kamehameha Schools, which enjoys tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service, was obligated to disclose the settlement in its tax returns and in detailed financial statements the institution must file annually in state court.
Kamehameha Schools sued the Does and private attorney Grant on the Big Island in 2008, demanding the $2 million penalty payment.
Before filing the suit, the schools’ lawyers said they would honor the Does’ anonymity as long as possible but warned that litigation could lead to exposure of their identities.
Jane Doe then said in a sworn affidavit she and her child feared for their safety if their names were made public.
Jane Doe said that more than 1,550 reader comments were posted on the Advertiser’s web site after the settlement amount was disclosed.
"Many of them are extremely critical of us. Some include threats of violence against us," she said.
"I have lived in Hawai'i for many years," the affidavit continued "The negative comments and threats posted to the Honolulu Advertiser's February 8, 2008 article are entirely consistent with my experience with many local residents regarding the admissions policy of the Kamehameha Schools."
If their identities become public, she said, "we are prepared to move and go into hiding."
A different lawsuit that also challenged Kamehameha’s admissions policy was filed by in 2008 in federal court by four anonymous, non-Hawaiian students.
Those plaintiffs dropped the action after the court ruled that their identities must be disclosed.
Federal Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren ruled that he didn’t think purported threats to the four justified anonymity.
"At most, plaintiffs are vulnerable children who have a reasonable fear of social ostracization," Kurren wrote in an opinion that was upheld on appeal.
Schools attorney Alston noted that a handful of non-Hawaiian students have been enrolled at Kamehameha, most recently last year.
Prominent Honolulu media attorney Jeff Portnoy called the Hilo plan for testimony-by-telephone “very strange and highly unusual.”
“I’m not aware of any case, certainly in Hawaii, where a party in a civil case has been allowed to testify anonymously and outside the presence of the judge and jury,” Portnoy said.
University of Hawaii professor Gerald Kato noted that there have been instances in which witnesses in criminal cases have testified from behind curtains or screens to protect them from threatened reprisals.
“This seems to be unprecedented in a civil case,” Kato said.
“I think this raises concerns about using public proceedings for anonymous parties,” he said.
In an August 30 hearing, Judge Nakamura said he was inclined “to allow (the) Doe defendants to testify from o/s (outside) the courtroom,” according to minutes of the hearing.
He said that would “allow Does to testify by telephone” and still leave the courtroom “open to the public.”
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http://www.hawaiireporter.com/?p=41288
Hawaii Reporter, October 19, 2011
Kamehameha Schools $2 Million Lawsuit Near Settlement
BY JIM DOOLEY - Kamehameha Schools is on the verge of settling its lawsuit against a mother and child who received $7 million from the Schools after challenging the institution’s admissions policy that favors students of Hawaiian ancestry.
The Schools paid the pair -- identified only as Jane and John Doe -- $7 million in 2007 in return for their agreement to drop a federal court lawsuit that claimed the admissions policy violated civil rights laws. The 2007 settlement agreement contained a $2 million penalty clause if either side disclosed terms of the deal.
Another attorney who had represented the pair, John Goemans, revealed the $7 million figure to the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper in 2008. The Schools sued the Does and their attorney Eric Grant for $2 million.
The Does claimed they were not responsible for the breach of confidentiality by Goemans, who died in 2009.
Trial in the case was scheduled to begin this month on the Big Island, where the Does live, but jury selection was delayed as the two sides discussed settlement, according to minutes of recent hearings held before Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura.
"Nothing has been finalized," Elizabeth Ahana, Integrated Strategies Manager for Kamehameha Schools, said today.
"The court has put off the trial pending the outcome of these discussions," she said.
Attorneys for the Does and Kamehameha Schools did not respond to requests for comment today.
Grant declined comment.
Minutes of hearings before Nakamura indicate the two sides are very close to agreement.
In an October 6 session, Micah Kane, vice chairman of the Kamehameha Schools board of trustees, was present.
"Confidential settlement placed on the record," the minutes of the session said.
Kamehameha Schools is one of the largest non-profit institutions in the country, with assets estimated at $7 billion to $8 billion.
It was created under the 1883 will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who endowed the institution with large tracts of land throughout the state. Some of that land, including sections of oceanside property in Waikiki, is now among the most valuable real estate on the planet.
The Schools’ admissions policy gives preference to children of Hawaiian ancestry and the Does claimed in a 2003 federal lawsuit that the policy violated federal civil rights laws.
When Goemans revealed the $7 million settlement figure, he argued that it should have been disclosed by the Schools in their annual tax returns and in detailed financial statements the institution must file yearly with state Probate Court.
The payment was apparently consolidated in larger line item entries on the IRS return and broken up into smaller segments on the Probate Court report.
The Does attempted to use Goemans’ argument about public disclosure in the Big Isle case. But Nakamura ruled that how the institution prepared its tax returns and financial statements had no bearing on whether the defendants breached the terms of the confidentiality agreement.
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20111111_New_Jersey_education_official_chosen_headmaster_of_Kamehameha_Schools.html?id=133677663
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, November 11, 2011
New Jersey education official chosen headmaster of Kamehameha Schools
By Star-Advertiser staff
Earl T. Kim, superintendent of a New Jersey school district, has been named the new headmaster of Kamehameha Schools' Kapalama campus, school officials said Thursday.
Kim, who has been superintendent of schools in Montgomery district since 2008, will assume his new position July 1.
He will replace Michael J. Chun, headmaster and the 10th president of the campus. Chun earlier this year announced his plans to retire on June 30.
"Earl will follow the path that Dr. Chun and the Kapalama ohana have set in assuring educational excellence on a strong foundation of our Hawaiian ancestry, culture and language," said Kamehameha Chief Executive Officer Dee Jay Mailer in a statement Thursday.
The reaction among members of the Kamehameha community was generally positive.
"I think everyone is happy to welcome him in the big canoe going in the same direction," said Jan Becket, a photography teacher and representative on the school's faculty union.
"It behooves us all to take a deep breath and say, 'How can we help?'" said graduate Jan Dill.
Oswald Stender, a former schools trustee, said as far as he was concerned, Kim has the right credentials.
"Him being a fellow Marine, he must be good," joked Stender, who served in the Marine Corps in the 1950s.
The announcement said Kim was born and raised in Hawaii, but did not say whether he has Hawaiian blood. The schools' admissions policy gives preference to students of Hawaiian ancestry.
But to many, Kim's ancestry isn't an issue.
Toni Lee, former president of Na Pua a ke Ali'i, a group that pressed for reforms at the school in the late 1990s, applauded the appointment.
"I don't know if he's part-Hawaiian or not, but I don't think that's a criteria," she said. "I think we need the best."
Kim said he was "overwhelmed and deeply humbled," according to a school statement.
He was selected from more than 150 candidates nominated and recruited from across the nation. He was among six semifinalists interviewed, and three finalists who visited the campus in October for interviews by six review committees comprised of Kapalama faculty, students, alumni, parents, administrators and community members.
Mailer made the final decision to appoint Kim, the schools said.
Kim, the youngest of three children, remembers moving around a lot as a youngster on Oahu, living for a while in Kaneohe before the family moved to Palolo, the schools said.
Kim said, "Home was a hard place to be at times, so I ended up spending a lot of time at school," according to the schools' announcement.
"I left the islands at 17 and began to collect my thoughts about what my purpose in life was to be," Kim said. "I traveled the United States, Western Pacific, Europe and Asia to gain perspective on our place in the world.
"I had the good fortune of studying at great universities with wonderful teachers and fellow sojourners. I am eager now to apply my learning in the service of the people and the islands that I call home. I can think of no nobler pursuit, no better use for my education and experience. Our keiki deserve no less."
Kamehameha Schools, a private, educational, charitable trust founded by the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, serves nearly 6,900 students of Hawaiian ancestry at campuses on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island and 31 preschool sites.
PROFILE: EARL T. KIM
» Education: 'Iolani High School, 1980; Cornell University, B.A. in history, 1984; Princeton University, master's degree in public affairs, domestic policy analysis, 1993
» Military: Marine Corps, honorably discharged 1988
» Career: Math teacher, Trenton Central High School, 1988; assistant principal and principal at two New Jersey high schools, 1993-2003; district superintendent of New Jersey schools, Verona Township, 2003-2006; superintendent, Montgomery school district, 2006-present
» Family: Youngest of three children, born in Hawaii and raised on Oahu, including Kaneohe and Palolo. Wife Kit is an educator who has taught in Hawaii. Two children, ages 14 and 18.
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/hawaiinewspremium/20111220_Schools_accept_14M_for_disclosed_settlement.html?id=135910573
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, December 20, 2011
Schools accept $1.4M for disclosed settlement
By Ken Kobayashi
Kamehameha Schools will receive $1.4 million in a settlement of its lawsuit alleging a breach of a confidential agreement that ended a court challenge to the schools' admissions policy giving preference to students with Hawaiian blood, the schools announced Monday.
The Hawaii island suit was against an unnamed non-Native Hawaiian student, known only as John Doe; his mother; and their attorney, Eric Grant, over the disclosure that the schools paid $7 million to settle their suit alleging that the admissions policy violated federal civil rights law.
The Doe lawsuit was settled in 2007 as the U.S. Supreme Court was considering whether to accept the case.
The late John Goemans, an attorney for the son and mother, disclosed that the schools paid $7 million.
The schools said Doe and his mother apologized, quoting their attorney as saying, "We are very sorry for the harm caused to the schools, which led to this lawsuit. We are sorry for Mr. Goemans' actions."
The schools said Doe, his mother and Grant will pay $1 million, plus $400,000 in legal fees and costs, to settle the case.
The schools' statement quoted Grant, of Sacramento, Calif., as saying that he regrets the schools were "deprived of confidentiality" and that his efforts didn't prevent Goemans from disclosing the settlement terms.
The schools' board of trustees said they were pleased with the outcome. They said the settlement provides the schools with "just compensation" and avoids the expense and distraction of a court case.
The 2007 settlement avoided any review by the U.S. Supreme Court of the admissions policy and left standing an 8-7 ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the admissions practice.
Goemans disclosed the $7 million the following year, saying he had learned from Internal Revenue Service officials that Kamehameha Schools, as a charitable trust, cannot keep the figure confidential.
Goemans, 75, who had been suffering from pancreatic cancer, died in California in 2009.
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http://www.ksbe.edu/article.php?story=20111219155049250
Kamehameha Schools website, Monday, December 19 2011
Trustee Message: KS Resolves Lawsuit Against Jane and John Doe and Eric Grant
Aloha mai kākou. As many of you may recall, Kamehameha Schools filed a lawsuit against Jane and John Doe and their former attorney, Eric Grant, in 2008, arising from their breach of our 2007 settlement agreement that ended the Does’ 2003 challenge of Kamehameha’s Hawaiian-preference admissions policy. This message is to let you know that Kamehameha Schools has resolved these claims with a stipulated judgment against the Does and a settlement agreement with their former attorney, Eric Grant. This case is over.
A stipulated judgment against the Does for $1 million plus $400,000 in legal fees and costs has been entered in favor of Kamehameha Schools.
In conjunction with the entry of judgment, the Does apologized to Kamehameha Schools for Mr. Goemans' disclosure of the settlement terms. The Does, through their attorneys, said: "We deeply regret having become involved in the current litigation with Kamehameha Schools, we are very sorry for the harm caused to the schools, which led to this lawsuit. We are sorry for Mr. Goemans' actions.”
In conjunction with the settlement, Eric Grant said, "I deeply regret that Kamehameha Schools was deprived of confidentiality, which was an important benefit of the 2007 Settlement Agreement. I likewise regret that my efforts, including procuring a court order barring Mr. Goemans from disclosing the settlement terms, were not enough to prevent him from doing so.”
While we have agreed not to disclose other specific terms of the settlement beyond the points above, we want you to know that we are pleased with this outcome. The settlement provides just compensation to Kamehameha Schools for the wrongful behavior of a member of the Does’ former legal team and for the Does’ and Grant’s expressions of regret. Kamehameha will receive payment from both the Does and Grant for the harm done, and we have avoided the expense and distraction of another time-consuming court case. This settlement ends Kamehameha Schools v. John and Jane Doe and Eric Grant.
We are happy to put this episode behind us, free of any residual drag on our ability and resources to focus on fulfilling the vision of our Founder. We want to express our sincere gratitude to our beneficiaries and community who have stood by Kamehameha Schools throughout.
Most importantly, we mahalo Ke Akua for providing continuing guidance, inspiration and strength at every step along this journey. We are truly thankful and blessed.
Me ka ha‘aha‘a,
J. Douglas Ing, Chair
Micah Kane
Janeen Olds
Corbett Kalama
Diane Plotts
Dee Jay Mailer, CEO
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20111225_Kamehameha_spends_more_on_outreach.html?id=136199748
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, December 25, 2011
Kamehameha spends more on outreach
The school doled out $106 million in fiscal 2011 to aid Native Hawaiians' education
By Mary Vorsino
Despite tough economic times, Kamehameha Schools increased spending on educational outreach in the fiscal year that ended June 30 by $4 million -- to $106 million -- continuing its pledge to extend services to more Native Hawaiian children.
The money went to scholarships and outreach programs that served 46,900 children and their caregivers, according to data to be included in Kamehameha Schools' annual report for fiscal year 2011. In the 2010 fiscal year, outreach spending reached 45,000 children and caregivers, the trust has reported.
"We actually are honored and privileged ... (that) we can continue our level of spending and even increase it during such times," said Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Officer Dee Jay Mailer. "We're committed to not retract" spending.
About 30 percent of outreach spending -- or $32 million -- went to a variety of public school programs in communities with large populations of Native Hawaiians.
Highlights of the outreach spending include:
» $15 million for 2,745 preschool and kindergarten scholarships. That's up from $13 million in fiscal year 2010.
» $14.6 million for college and post-secondary scholarships, from $12.6 million.
» $10.6 million (from $9.1 million the year before) for 17 Hawaiian-focused public charter schools. The charter schools together serve more than 4,000 students.
» $7.2 million for literacy instruction and support in public schools. The program, offered in school and after school, serves more than 3,700 students. Last fiscal year, the program expanded to serve students in intermediate grades.
Kamehameha Schools pledged to increase its outreach spending in 2005, in response to criticism that the trust wasn't doing enough to support the education of all Native Hawaiian children. Since then, outreach spending has nearly doubled.
Mailer said she expects a "modest" increase in outreach spending this fiscal year.
She added that the spending is translating into student performance gains.
"We see literacy rates getting better," she said. "Absentee rates have dropped."
The $106 million spent for educational outreach programs last fiscal year compares to about $209 million (from $129 million the year before) spent for programs at the three Kamehameha Schools campuses on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island. The increase is largely due to new construction, including a new middle-school wing, athletic facilities and other upgrades at the Kapalama campus.
EDUCATION AID
Despite tough times, Kamehameha Schools has continued to increase its annual spending on educational outreach services to reach more Native Hawaiian children:
2011: $106 million
2010: $102 million
2009: $97 million
2008: $82 million
2007: $78 million
2006: $57 million
Source: Kamehameha Schools
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