The building that Soto Academy, a small private school in Nuuanu, occupies is cracking, making the school’s future unknown.
The school occupies a two-story building on the grounds of the Soto Mission of Hawaii, a Zen Buddhist temple.
“We want … our kids to have a safe school to attend and not have to worry about things falling on them,” said Andrea Deutsch, a parent of two Soto Academy students and the president of the school’s Board of Directors.
Along with a damaged roof, Soto Academy is facing another problem: Soto Mission of Hawaii, which owns the property, said in a letter sent to parents on March 15 that because of the deficient building, they could no longer offer a lease for the current school premises.
Soto Academy is a small private school for kindergarten to fifth grade, which has been in operation since 1991. The school currently has 54 students.
Parents of the students who attend the school were drawn to it because of its small class sizes, which are between six to 12 students per class. This allows the teachers to connect with each student.
Deutsch’s son, who is in the first grade, is autistic. She said she considered sending him to a public school or other private schools but ultimately decided Soto Academy would be the best option because they allow a one-on-one aide, known as a Registered Behavior Technician (or RBT therapist), to stay with her son for the first half of the day.
“My first grader was diagnosed at two with autism, but since being at Soto Academy he can read, he can take tests like the other kids … it’s because of … the small class sizes that he’s been able to definitely advance and be up to par with his grade level. Without that, I don’t think he would make it,” said Deutsch.
She said other students at the school have ADHD or special needs, and Soto Academy is one of the few private schools that will accept them and help them flourish.
The roof crumbles
Over Presidents Day weekend from Feb. 18-20, the eaves on the roof of the school’s two-story building, known as the Komagata building, started to crack.
“There is definite spalling issues,” said Deutsch, describing when areas of concrete crack.
Spectrum News Hawaii contacted Soto Mission’s board, who requested emailed questions. The board said in an email that the spalling issues were first noticed on Feb. 19 after heavy rains at the beginning of the year.
Deutsch said a report about the extent of the damage and a timeline for repairs was promised by Soto Mission in February but still has not been provided to the school.
"Most of the spalling is not visible and a timeline cannot be provided until the contractor has its workers use scaffolding to check the eaves and to test the integrity of the areas of concern," Soto Mission's board said. "It seems that the spalling was caused by leaks in the building’s roof and roofing contractors have been contacted to assess the integrity of the roof. In addition, plans are in place to remove the 200+ photovoltaic panels prior to performing any work on the roof."
Soto Mission's board said repairs would not start until after the school year is complete and the building is no longer occupied. The school was notified that they must vacate the Komagata building by June 15.
In the meantime, Soto Mission had a contractor build wooden structures to protect students, teachers and staff from having parts of the roof fall on them and to show what areas are dangerous.
Deutsch is skeptical that the makeshift structures would provide adequate protection, but she is more concerned that Soto Mission closed both of the school’s playgrounds while the temple was building the structures.
“It prevents the children from going out to the playground, which has nothing to do with the building damage,” said Deutsch. “It’s almost like they’re trying to punish the children.”
She also said the structure had nails protruding from it, and the contractor’s crew was smoking cigarettes on campus while school was in session.
Soto Mission’s board said both playgrounds have now been reopened. The back playground was reopened after barriers were put in place to allow it to be safely accessed, according to the board; it is not clear what day the back playground reopened. The front playground was reopened on March 23 after a contractor built a gate in the fence between the playground and parking lot.
The school’s lease
Soto Mission also said in its March 15 letter that because of the “deficient building conditions” and the time it will take to repair the Komagata Building, it would not offer a lease to Soto Academy for the following school year.
However, Deutsch said the temple first rescinded the lease in May 2022 before the building had problems.
Soto Mission's board said it told parents in May 2022 "that the temple could no longer financially sustain the school." No more details were provided about why financial issues arose at this time.
The school started the process to become a separate entity from Soto Mission, applying for nonprofit status.
“We started to look for other locations. And because of all the permitting and licensing issues, we’ve had a hard time finding a new location,” said Deutsch. “So I came back to the church, and I wrote a letter to them asking for some way to work with them or collaborate on having a tenant lease agreement … (and) they agreed.”
In November, the church and school started talking again about a one-year lease, but earlier this month, after the building crumbled, the school was told again that the lease would be rescinded.
According to Soto Mission's board, a lease will not be offered to the school, "because we do not know the timeline of the building repairs."
“It’s just a really bad situation,” said Deutsch.
What’s next
The school has now had three sign-waving events, with another planned for March 31, to let the Nuuanu community know that the school’s campus is in jeopardy.
On Thursday, Soto Mission’s board and a senior minister with the temple held a meeting with two members of Soto Academy’s board along with Principal Rose Ann Nakamoto. Soto Mission agreed to get a second opinion from two professional engineering companies for the scope of damage and work.
“The students are in limbo right now because of this whole situation. So our main focus is to get this building fixed, or at least to get an idea of what the extent of work would be from an independent contractor and structure engineer, and then to go from there,” said Deutsch.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.