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Maui High principal steps in as complex superintendent

Jamie Yap asks for patience as schools deal with COVID, staffing issues

Maui High School Principal Jamie Yap will take over as interim superintendent for the Baldwin-Kekaulike-Maui Complex Area today as Superintendent Kathleen Dimino retires at the end of this month. Photo courtesy Maui High School

Beginning today, Maui High School Principal Jamie Yap will be the interim superintendent for the Baldwin-Kekaulike-Maui Complex Area.

He fills the seat being vacated by Kathleen Dimino, who retires at the end of the month. Dimino spent 32 years in the state Department of Education and has been in the complex superintendent job since 2017, according to the DOE.

Already, Yap has been learning the ropes of higher administration, shadowing Dimino as she dealt with the severe weather impacting schools last week.

Yap said that Monday marked the resumption of on-campus learning for Kula Elementary School, which was closed for five days due to the water outage in the area following the storm. On Friday, even as service was back on, Yap said the water was not clean, so students did online learning at home for one day.

Other schools had some roof leaks, electrical issues and trees falling on campus, but Yap said Kula had the biggest issue to grapple with.

Kathleen Dimino

As Yap, who has spent more than 40 years in the education field, takes the helm overseeing the largest complex of schools in Maui County, he urged everyone to work together with the schools during these tough times.

“I know it’s cliche, but it takes a village to raise these kids,” Yap said.

“It’s been a challenge with COVID and being in school, not being in school,” he added, noting the fear and anxieties that people have been having.

It also has been a overall challenge for the state Department of Education to recruit teachers and administrators. Yap said the fear of COVID also has driven away substitute teachers. Because of the lack of substitutes, administrators have had to go into the classrooms.

DOE is in the same situation as other industries seeking workers amid the pandemic, Yap said, noting even vacancies among staff such as custodians.

Then-Maui High Principal Jamie Yap (left) and Baldwin-Kekaulike-Maui Complex Area Superintendent Kathleen Dimino attend Maui High’s socially distanced drive-thru graduation ceremony in May 2020. The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photo

Of a daily average of 1,200 requests for substitute teachers in the public schools, nearly 150 go unfilled, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported last month, citing DOE data.

Going into the new job, Yap asked the public to work with the schools and staff and support one another.

“If this village crashes there won’t be education,” he said. “We have to pull together.”

“Every school, every administrator, every teacher is trying to do the best job that they can,” Yap later added. “Nobody gets up in the morning and says, ‘Today, I’m going to do the worst job.’ ”

Overall, Yap said he feels the schools “are doing a real good job” with managing the COVID-19 situation with the protocols in place.

Joanne Higa

“Nobody in the department has worked through a pandemic like this, that’s part of why I’m asking for patience and kindness,” Yap said.

Maui High Vice Principal JoAnne Higa will take Yap’s spot as interim principal.

Yap said that since the current Hawaii Superintendent of Education Keith Hayashi is in an interim spot, Yap’s position is also temporary. A permanent superintendent of education will be able to name a permanent complex area superintendent for the Baldwin-Kekaulike-Maui complex, Yap said.

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

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