HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The idea of ​​enticing and retaining teachers to work in Hawaii is causing some hesitation in the Central Oahu community.

While many support this idea, they are urging developers to rethink its position.

A. 3-storey apartment complex proposed For Mililani High School campus. This will bring 109 affordable, teacher-specific units to the school below market value.

As a public-private partnership, developer Pacific Housing Assistance Corporation will assume all construction and operating costs.

Although housing faculty members on campuses is not a new idea, some in the community are voicing concerns.

“Obviously, affordable housing for teachers is important. “We need to be able to retain our teachers, we want teachers not to have to leave for financial reasons, but this particular iteration of these projects is not the best for our community for many reasons,” Mililani teacher Sarah Miranda said.

Those reasons, shared with the School Facilities Administration in a series of recent meetings, include an increase in traffic, disruptive construction and safety concerns for both students and those living in the units.

Some also worry that the school’s Agriculture program may have to be relocated, costing the state an estimated $4.9 million.

“To go back and occupy the only space where they already have to work and actively learn in this environment and actively learn and take that and move forward is a gut punch to these students and sends the wrong message,” MHS teacher Mary Miura-Aguinaldo added.

Educators say farmland is more than a garden. There are cultural aspects of the area that should not be ignored; these include ahu, a working imu, and kukui nut trees, some of which have connections to ali’i and were planted using Hawaiian protocol.

Some critics also argue that project leaders failed to get community input initially, and that developers are only now starting to hear the community’s concerns. This could push them back to the drawing board.

“I think we heard loud and clear that this order is not very helpful,” said Cheri Nakamura, program and policy officer for the Hawaii School Facilities Authority. “So we learned a lot from this particular project and realized that more community input was needed before we released the RFP.”

Some are open to putting it on the lower campus near the football stadium, but the developer found bulk space to have better connections and easier access to public services.

“This is not necessarily an anti-development response from the community, it just raises concerns about this specific site location.” said Danielle Bass, Mililani Township Neighborhood Board President.

Two more community meetings about the project are planned. It is planned to be held on December 17 and 18 at the Mililani High School cafeteria. Meetings are planned to start at 18.30

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