It’s frustrating, even infuriating, that a brand-new high school should stand empty in South Maui when the need is so great.

Yet that is the case. The state Department of Education had planned to open the school to 9th graders in January, but one big roadblock stood in the way: failure to comply with the state Land Use Commission’s mandatory condition that a “grade-separated pedestrian crossing” — either an overpass or underpass — be constructed, allowing students to safely cross Piilani Highway, before the school opened.

This situation was completely predictable, and DOE’s decisions failed to meet Maui’s students’ needs for both a high school and safe passage to it.

In 2019, the LUC voted to reaffirm the condition, first established in 2013, that an overpass or underpass must be built before the school could open.

Within hours of that LUC meeting, DOE spokesperson Nanea Kalani announced, “The DOE will comply with the requirement to construct a grade-separated pedestrian crossing,” but added: ‘“We are anticipating the overpass will be completed after the scheduled opening of the school, and will be proposing interim pedestrian crossing measures in the meantime.”

At the time, then-county Planning Director Michele McLean told The Maui News that should the school fail to meet LUC conditions, it would not qualify for a county certificate of occupancy — and the school would not be able to open.

That is exactly what has happened, and it certainly should have been no surprise. The LUC rejected a 2022 DOE request for an amendment to its condition, and Maui County would not issue a certificate of occupancy.

Meanwhile Kulanihako‘i High sits empty.

DOE’s mismanagement of this situation includes its failure to follow the will of the South Maui community. Parents and others have continuously advocated for a safe, grade-separated pedestrian crossing at the school. Here in Honolulu, where we remain shocked and saddened by the death of a 16-year-old McKinley High School student killed by a hit-and-run driver in the early morning hours of Feb. 15, it is easy to understand the safety concerns.

Instead, DOE spent $16 million budgeted for school construction — which could have gone toward planning and building the crossing — to construct a roundabout slowing traffic on Piilani Highway and connecting to the school.

At an LUC meeting in Kihei on Feb. 9, responding to heated questioning from the commission, DOE Deputy Superintendent Curt Otaguro said DOE paid for the roundabout to “expedite” construction, rather than wait for DOT to request funding. Each step along this path, sidestepping community concerns for safety and legal conditions for opening the high school, has been a serious violation of the public trust.

South Maui families have waited for decades for their own local school, with students having to commute to Kahului or Wailuku. Now, although final stages of construction will continue, the stymied crossing plans have kept students from moving in. That is simply unacceptable.

Freshman state Sen. Angus McKelvey, whose District 6 includes South Maui, called for the DOE to move forward immediately with the crossing, requesting a traffic emergency zone proclamation from the governor to expedite construction.

At this stage, with the cost of construction being weighed against the cost of keeping a brand-new school vacant, that is the best option.