Latest news with #EwaElementary
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
Judge denies bail for woman accused of beating adopted daughter to death
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The woman accused of beating her adopted daughter to death will remain in custody until her trial. A judge made that ruling April 22, even though a lawyer for her other children said the family should be together. The attorney for Sina Pili asked the court-appointed attorney for her children if she should be allowed to be reunited with them. Ewa Elementary bursting at the seams: Redistricting plan shakes up school boundaries 'Um, that's a complicated question,' said Sheri Ritter, attorney and guardian ad Litem. 'Yes. Qualified, I guess.' Pili is charged with manslaughter for the death of her 11-year old adopted daughter Azaeliyah Pili Ah You in December 2023. Pili has been in custody since being arrested in March. Her attorney has been fighting for her to be released, or at least have her bond reduced. Pili and her husband Davis Pili have four other adoptive children, all of whom have special needs. The children are currently with grandparents, and only have supervised visits with Davis Pili. 'If you're asking me if the children are in danger with mother, the answer is no,' Ritter said. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news 'I think it's important for those children to get some psychological space, and if children especially cannot acknowledge they've seen or endured, they can't start to heal,' said pediatrician Dr. Kayal Natarajan. Despite Natarajan's input, defense attorney Miles Breiner argued that her lack of a psychological penalty does not give her the authority to make that decision. 'I understand you're a pediatrician, but you're not certified as a psychologist,' Breiner said. 'So you can't render an opinion without violation or your code of ethics regarding any kind of psychiatric evaluation not conducted by you. That's not correct.''I'm not conducting a mental health evaluation, but I can understand when I read them, what they mean,' Natarajan replied. Judge Rowena Somerville ruled to continue to hold Pili without bail. The key reason, she says, a Honolulu police report where the detective felt the other children were intimidated and were reluctant to come forward to talk about what happened. 'I do have serious concerns that Ms. Pili will continue to obstruct, or attempt to obstruct justice, when it comes to surviving children,' Somerville said. Pili's trail is scheduled for May. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ewa Elementary bursting at the seams: Redistricting plan shakes up school boundaries
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Big changes are coming to the Ewa Beach community–and it's hitting close to home for hundreds of families. Ewa Elementary, already the largest elementary school in the state, is bursting at the seams. Hawaii assault weapons ban: Necessary or posturing? At Ewa Elementary School, there's no such thing as extra space. Classrooms are packed. Hallways echo with the sound of nearly 1,300 students–and that's 100 more than the campus was designed to hold. 'New Homes are coming up as we speak, and so they're going to keep coming, and unless we find a way to relocate some of the students, what's overcrowded now, it's going to be worse next year,' said Stanley Tamashiro, Ewa Elementary School principal. So starting in August of this year, a redistricting plan will reassign students to relieve the from the Kaʻuluokahaʻi subdivision and Keahumoa Place will attend Barbers Point Elementary. Students living in Pohaku Estates will head to Kapolei Elementary, about 100 students total. School officials say they know that parents are not really happy about this redistricting plan, but they hope to make the transition as smooth as possible 'It's unfortunate that we have to resort to redistricting students in the middle of their educational elementary career. But just given the situation, we have to do this for next year,' said Sean Tajima, Campbell-Kapolei Complex area superintendent. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Over the next two decades, more than 11,000 homes are expected to be built in the area, along with five new schools to support the boom: one high school, one middle school and three elementary schools. The top priority is East Kapolei Elementary. While the design for the new school is nearly complete, funding for its $130 million construction was not included in the budget. 'There's about 550 students in East Kapolei who are attending Ewa Elementary school right now. So by the time the school opens, the chances are there's a high probability that that school will be at or above capacity on day one that it opens,' Tajima said. Native flora planted at Washington Place for Earth Day The long-term fix includes not just an elementary school, but a badly needed East Kapolei High School, projected to cost $750 million, but again, there's no money currently budgeted by the state. The process to build a new school from funding to design to construction takes about six years. Principal Tamashiro, who attended Ewa Elementary growing up, said he's proud of his faculty and staff who have been understanding of the situation. 'We are constantly having an increase students throughout the year. I mean, it's constant. So they've been very accepting of a larger class size knowing some of their colleagues at other schools have much smaller classes. It's just what they've come to expect,' Tamashiro said. 'So I'm really proud of how our school has become the kind of community that I grew up in sugar plantation time: everybody took care of each other. That's what our school is like.' In the meantime, there is a community meeting at Ewa Elementary School's cafeteria on May 6 to answer questions and hear concerns. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
