Shafter Elementary School’s cafeteria and library are serving as makeshift classrooms as the school awaits renovation and relocation of three portable classrooms. Since last year, students have been eating lunch outdoors, and the school’s librarian pushes book carts to classrooms for students to borrow materials.

A Department of Education spokeswoman lauded the school’s efforts, noting: “Not only have the Shafter Elementary students adapted to the temporary setup but they’re also being exposed to problem-solving challenges.” Too bad the DOE could not tackle its own challenges as quickly. The three portables — one delivered to the campus in December 2014 and the other two in July 2015 — may not be class-ready until the next school year.

75 years later, Herb Weatherwax was there

A final community salute goes out to Herb Weatherwax, the Pearl Harbor survivor who, simply, embodied the Greatest Generation for many visitors to the USS Arizona Memorial. The World War II veteran, who also saw combat in France and Germany, died Monday at age 99.

For two decades until recently, Weatherwax was a treasured volunteer at the memorial’s visitor center, tooling about in his motorized scooter to greet and bring history to life for visitors. It’s particularly poignant, and fitting, that Weatherwax lived to attend last week’s 75th commemoration of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack — his final wish, according to family.