Kamehameha Schools to Purchase Buildings and Land Comprising the Hualalai Academy’s Campus – Kamehameha Schools Kona Campus???

Leaders from Kamehameha Schools and Hualalai Academy have signed a Letter of Intent that allows for a due diligence period for Kamehameha Schools to purchase the buildings and land comprising the Hualalai Academy’s campus.

Hualalai Academy

“We only recently learned that this property was available to purchase so we are not prepared at this time to share more details,” said Dee Jay Mailer, CEO of Kamehameha Schools. “I can say, though, that we recognize and appreciate the good work and effort that the leadership, faculty and staff have dedicated to the Academy over the years in serving their community.”

Dr. Matthew James, President of Hualalai’s Board of Directors said, “We have as our priority the closure of our school in the best of ways, allowing us to meet our obligations to our students and families, our teachers and staff through the end of the school year. Having an offer from Kamehameha Schools is good news in that it allows us to cement our plans to successfully complete our school year and close school operations prior to turning over the facility.”

“We are excited by this opportunity,” CEO Mailer added. “However, our due diligence is just beginning and there is much to do before we conclude this transaction. In the meantime, we send our aloha and best wishes to the entire Hualalai Academy ‘ohana and the community they serve as they complete this most important school year.”

Hualalai Academy Soliciting Donors to Calm “Perfect Storm” – Operation to Suspend May 30th

The Head of School at Hualalai Academy is soliciting potential donors to help Hualalai’s current financial situation.  Here is a copy of the letter being sent to potential donors:

Hualalai Academy on the Big Island

Aloha,

Thank you for your willingness to look at the current financial status of Hualalai Academy, a K-8 independent school, serving the children of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Over the past several years, the school has faced declining enrollment due to decreased discretionary spending for working families and the impact of new charter schools and online academies.  Although the Hualalai Academy Experience is clearly the program of choice, many families have had to make the tough decision and settle for a no-tuition educational option for their children.

This “perfect storm” of circumstances has led to our board making the tough decision to suspend operation effective May 30, 2014.  This decision was the result of multiple banks and lenders choosing not to refinance us based on our limited cash flow via student tuitions.

Specifically, the school has the following debt:

Mortgage and lines of credit with First Hawaiian Bank                                $1,600,000

Bridge loan with friend of HA                                                                             200,000

Anticipated Bridge loan with friends of HA                                                       500,000

Debt as of June 1, 2014                                                                                  $2,300,000

The anticipated bridge loans are currently being pursued so that we may be able to pay our faculty and complete the school year for the sake of the students.

Should we receive a “miracle” and find a way to eliminate past debt, we have the “team” ready to spring into action and keep Hualalai Academy open and poised to improve our financial position and grow the Hualalai Academy Experience.

As I write, we are fighting the clock. Students are applying to other quality independent schools and teachers will be receiving job offers as their reputation as outstanding teachers precedes them. So, time is of the essence.

In closing, I am the new kid on the block as I arrived on July 1, 2013 to help the school grow into the finest independent school in Hawaii.  Instead, I have been watching a slow death.  However, we are still breathing and your support would allow us to come back to life and once again thrive and serve.

Thank you for taking the time to consider helping Hualalai Academy.

Sincerely,

John R. Colson

Head of School

Hualalai Academy

The contact information for donations is John Colson 808-326-9866 jcolson@hualalai.org

Hualalai Academy Head of School Responds to the Financial Collapse of the School

Yesterday, I posted about the possibility of Hualalai Academy on the Big Island of Hawaii closing down at the end of the year or possibly sooner.

Hualalai Academy

John Colson, Head of School, responded today with the following letter explaining the financial collapse of the school.

 Aloha Hualalai Academy Ohana:

Now that the sting of the Board of Directors’ announcement has settled a bit, I write as Head of School to clarify the announcement and the progress we have made to date.

First, I ask that you look at the situation with an open mind and realize that there is no one to blame for the financial collapse of the school. Over the years, the student enrollment has dropped substantially from a high of 235 to today’s enrollment of 112. This decline has led to staffing adjustments and annual borrowing from the bank to be able to continue offering a quality independent school program. The collective nature of the annual borrowing over the years has reached the point where lenders have no interest in working with us due to our lack of cash flow. Consequently, we have tried to turn over as many rocks as we could to see if some lender would work with us. Our final option told us “No” on the 15th of January. The Board of Directors met on the 16th of January and the announcement was made on the 17th to faculty and parents. The announcement was made in mid-January to give families time to apply to other independent schools that have an application deadline of January 31, 2014 should they so desire.

Our immediate task is to acquire a bridge loan that will allow us to finish the school year in total. I am pleased to tell you that as soon as the financial hardship was made public, several members of the HA Ohana stepped up and either offered cash contributions or bridge loans to ensure we serve the students correctly. More specifically, we have received over $25,000 in direct gifts and two bridge loans totally $300,000. With this level of support already in hand, we will most definitely be able to finish the year as currently calendared.

Once that is complete, we are committed to looking for that magical gift that would allow us to eliminate the collective debt and cancel the closure of the school. In the last 24 hours we have received contact information for potential donors who might help a special school like HA. I have to tell you it is a long shot but we are committed to trying as it is for the benefit of the students.

For me, this has been very hard as I care deeply about each student and want what is best for them. I would not have come to Hualalai Academy if I did not believe I could help build the school into the finest independent school in Kona. That being said, circumstances have dictated this action for now and with some good old fashioned luck, we may just be able to pull the rabbit out of the hat.

Please join me in doing your best to assist the students as they work to have a highly successful second semester. Tomorrow we celebrate the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King. His teachings taught us to work together and to do so with a spirit of aloha and service to others. Anger and blame will not change anything but positive action has a chance. Come Tuesday, we need to support the students and faculty in the most appropriate fashion possible. Your cooperation and support is necessary and will be beneficial for all.

If you have questions, please contact me at jcolson@hualalai.org at your convenience. If I don’t have the answer to your question, I will surely get you an answer.

E malama pono,

John (Colson)

Hualalai Academy on Big Island Closing, Needs Funds to Get Through School Year – Board of Director Under Fire From Parents

Parents of students that attend Hualalai Academy on the Big Island of Hawaii were shocked when they received an email on Friday from the Board of Directors of the School, Dr. Matt James, that told them the academy would be closing it’s doors for good at the end of the academic year OR SOONER.

Hualalai Academy on the Big Island

The letter basically stated the school needed to raise $3,000.00 per student just to be able to complete the school year.

I tried to warn folks about the legitimacy of some of the things this alleged “Dr.” was doing previously on my website:

• In November of 2008, I blogged about this Board of Director who sent out the memo and I had suspicions that he was linked to diploma mills when I blogged,  President of Unaccredited American Pacific University in Honolulu Brings in More then $3 Million Per Year on Hypnosis.

Dr. Matt James

• In February of 2009, I blogged how this same guy, Dr. James was going to build a campus on the Kona side of the Big Island, “Unaccredited University Linked to “Diploma Mill” – American Pacific University to Build Kona Campus?“

Today I got an email from a parent from one of the students that attends the campus and she is concerned about her kids future at this school and whether he will even complete the school year at the school:

“Aloha Damon
I’m a concerned parent who’s child attends Hualalai. We received a letter Friday that they will be closing their doors before end if school year. We are currently trying to get answers and can’t get any. We started looking into the president of the board Dr. Matt James and seen do did a story on him awhile back, we found that his past seems to be shady. Looking for some help.”

I’ve forwarded this information on to some of my other journalist friends and we will see if we can get some answers for the students.  In the meantime here is the letter that students brought home to their parents yesterday:

 January 17, 2014

Dear Hualalai Academy Ohana,

It is with a heavy and sad heart I must share with you that Hualalai Academy must close its doors at the conclusion of this academic year or sooner if we are unable to secure additional funding. We are turning to you, the ohana, to help the school get through this school year.

Before I begin and share with you the entire series of events, I want you to know that as parents of two children who attend this amazing school, my wife and I are devastated. The faculty and Board of Directors have done everything we can and at this point we do not see a miracle on the horizon.

John Colson, the Board of Directors and I have been working on our financial challenge since July 1st of this school year. To begin, please keep in mind that John left a wonderful job at HPA to join us. He believed this school was special and that it could become the premier independent school in Kona.

First, we identified the school needed to cut expenses and reduce overhead. John did this immediately and put the school in a position to be as close to a balanced budget as possible. Furthermore, the board made the difficult decision of conducting a teach-out for the high school and suspending operation at the end of May 2014. Both of these actions set up our ability to stabilize the school.

Next, we secured funding to fill gaps created by a smaller than usual enrollment to complete the first half of the school year. This temporary loan assisted the school to remain functional, and it allowed John and I the necessary time to meet with the bank and work on our debt restructuring. While the school owns the land, it has also incurred significant debt over the years.

The school campus, both land and structures, has a significantly higher value in comparison to our debt; therefore, based on this, we created a three to five year business plan to improve the school. As a part of the plan, we met with the bank to restructure the loans and refinance the land. Based on the land value and our plan, we were very confident the bank would approve the plan and assist us with a new financial package. We have been with this bank since the foundation of our school and have a good working relationship with them.

So, with the land asset, John running the school, and our business plan, the meeting went extremely well. The bank gave us positive indications and we were asked to wait. Because of this response, we only pursued one other avenue which was a possible sale of the land to finance our operations. After waiting for two months, we were informed by the bank that not only would they NOT refinance the land, they would not assist us in any other fashion.

During the two month wait, we also met with all of the viable banks in Hawaii to no avail. Additionally, we worked with an investment company from the mainland, explored the option of becoming a charter school with authorities and we have looked for a buyer to purchase the land all with the legitimate expectation that we could stay open and continue to deliver the amazing Hualalai Academy Experience.

As of January 16, with no other viable options for the school, we felt we must disclose our financial situation to you. Thus, we must now work to find transitional funding to complete this school year and assist families as they begin to find other educational options for the 2014-2015 school year. To put our financial situation into perspective, the school needs to raise approximately $3000 per student to make it through the remainder of the 2013-2014 school year.

On behalf of the full board, I thank you for your support of Hualalai Academy and being a part of our ohana. We are now doing everything we can to complete this year, and we need your support and help. To be clear, without additional funding the school year may have to be shortened.

Should you have questions, please contact John at your convenience.

With a heavy heart,

Dr. Matt James, Chair

Board of Directors

Hualalai Academy

Hualalai Academy Appoints John Colson as Head of School

The Board of Directors of Hualalai Academy has selected Hawaii veteran educator and school administrator John Colson as its Head of School effective July 2013.

John Colson

“We were seeking a dynamic, compassionate, forward-thinking and resourceful educational leader and we struck gold with John Colson,” stated Dr. Matt James, Hualalai Academy Search Committee Chair and incoming 2013-2014 Board Chair. “John Colson’s vision and innovative leadership will position Hualalai Academy for long-term sustainability and will continue to improve the Hualalai Academy experience.”

John Colson is currently Director of Advancement and Special Projects at Hawaii Preparatory Academy (HPA). His storied educational career in public, private and independent charter schools on Hawaii Island began in 1979 and includes previous stints as counselor, coach, teacher and Headmaster (1991-2003) at HPA, Middle School Principal at Kamehameha Schools Hawaii and Principal at Waimea Middle Public Conversion Charter School.  Colson received his bachelor’s degree from Chaminade University and holds a master’s degree from Radford University.

One of Colson’s projects while Headmaster was to transition the HPA K-5 Kona Campus to an independent Hualalai Academy in 1996. As one of the early founders of Hualalai Academy, Colson’s return is a homecoming.

“Hualalai Academy has an excellent educational reputation throughout Hawaii and I am very much looking forward to working together with the students, parents, faculty and staff and Board of Directors,” said John Colson.  “With the educational mission focusing on critical thinking, problem solving and lifelong learning solidly in place, my objectives will be financial sustainability and institutional advancement in the beginning stages of my tenure at Hualalai Academy.”

Hualalai Academy, an independent and co-educational college preparatory school, serves140 students in grades K-12 with 16 faculty members on a 14-acre campus in North Kona, Hawaii. Core values are based on the Hawaiian principle of kinaole, or doing the right thing.

Hualalai Academy was one of only 16 “Schools of the Future” selected by the Hawaii Community Foundation and the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools thus benefitting from a five-year $500,000 investment.  The designation recognizes and supports Hualalai Academy’s innovative programs and statewide leadership in 21st Century Learning pedagogy and curriculum.  Hualalai Academy will celebrate its 20th anniversary during the 2015-16 school year.