KIHEI - Nearly 40 Kihei public school students spent their 10th Furlough Friday parading in masks, tumbling on mats and dancing to their hearts' content.
"I think this is great lemonade for the Maui children," said artist Ed Lane, pointing out how a free Furlough Friday program called Kihei Community Keiki Club was making the best out of a bad situation. For three weeks, Lane and his wife, Diane, volunteered their time to give mask-making lessons to the children in the program.
Founded and endorsed by the Kihei Elementary School Parent Teacher Association, the club coordinates a program that provides enrichment activities to students who lost classroom time because of a two-year contract agreement reached by public school teachers and the state.
Last fall, a majority of Hawaii State Teachers Association members ratified a contract that resulted in an 8 percent salary reduction with 17 Furlough Fridays scheduled for this school year and 17 more next school year. Dozens of Furlough Friday programs have sprung up, but the Keiki Club program differs in that the children get free activities.
The club, its organizers said, is neither a child care provider nor a substitute for the teaching provided in public schools. Adults volunteer their time and materials for the enrichment activities.
Bridget Bunting, the Kihei PTA president, said the club averages between 25 and 40 students each Friday that teachers and students are not in the classroom.
In this week's session, 38 students showed up from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a variety of activities, including a Mardi Gras parade of masks produced by the children.
"I think it's a great opportunity for the kids," Lane said.
The Lanes' mask-making lessons included showing children photographs of masks created around the world, including Africa, Bali, New Guinea, Mexico and Hawaii.
Ace Hardware contributed 125 paint sticks, and South Maui residents, including the Lanes' neighbors on Panana Place, donated art materials such as washable markers, paper used for the masks and other items.
"It's a nice community effort," Lane said.
Erin Kowalick, a 1st-grade teacher at Kihei Elementary, pitched in to teach dance at the Keiki Club. "I want to be supportive," she said of the enrichment program. "It's providing things we couldn't provide at school."
Kowalick said she doesn't charge for her time during Keiki Club, but she since has received inquiries for after-school dance lessons. She said the enrichment program that includes music, drama, science, history and physical activities provides a safe and productive venue for children.
"We're doing the best we can, given the situation," she said.
Laura Marzke, a parent of a kindergartner and a 3rd-grader at Kamalii Elementary, brings her children to the program at the Kihei Elementary School cafeteria and volunteers to oversee a science enrichment project.
"I would rather see our kids back in instructional days," Marzke said.
On Monday, the Senate committees on Education and Housing; Human Services; and Commerce and Consumer Protection are set to deliberate on Senate Bill 2437 at the State Capitol. The measure proposes to tap the state's hurricane-relief fund to restore instructional days until Jan. 1, 2011, and increase the general excise tax by 1 percent beginning Jan. 1 of next year to put students back in classrooms Fridays.
Marzke said she would back tapping the hurricane-relief fund for the restoration of instructional days, but she does not support raising the general excise tax "because Hawaii is already taxed so high."
Kowalick said it's tough to support tapping the hurricane-relief funds to restore teacher salaries when many other worthwhile programs have been forced to deal with reduced state support.
"I think it needs to be done, but I think it needs to be fair to everyone," she said.
Patti Domingo, a Kihei grandmother, volunteers at Keiki Club but none of her grandchildren attends the program.
"I've always loved working with kids. I believe in volunteer work," Domingo said.
She said she supports the Keiki Club because it strives to make Furlough Fridays productive for children.
"A lot of schools are having a hard time incorporating the arts," she said. "But here we provide enrichment that they wouldn't otherwise get in school."
Domingo said she doesn't support Senate Bill 2437.
"It's only going to be a Band-Aid fix," she said, adding that she'd prefer state leaders focus on figuring out how to balance the state budget while overhauling the public education system.
"You need to fix the system and look at why we got to where we are today," she said.
"Everything is uncertain up to this point. If we run into the same problem in the future, do we raise taxes again?"
Bunting agreed with Domingo, expressing particular opposition to an excise-tax increase. "You can't continue to bleed the people," she said.
* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.
