Ka‘ū News Briefs, Friday, August 7, 2020

Leo Norberte, right, leads a farm tour during an annual Kaʻū Coffee Festival, which was canceled this year. So are orders from coffee buyers, and farmers say they need help from the government to tide them over and save the $50 million Hawaiʻi Coffee industry. See more below. Photo by Jesse Tunison/Kaʻū Coffee Festival

KA‘Ū AND VOLCANO PUBLIC SCHOOLS WILL OPEN AUG. 17 FOR ON-CAMPUS AND DISTANCE LEARNING as planned. O‘ahu schools will offer distance learning, given the recent rise in COVID-19 cases. State Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Christina Kishimoto, said, "It is our mission to ensure that all students in Hawai‘i have equitable access to a quality education, even amidst this pandemic. Learning must take place as we continue to safeguard our island community. Mahalo to our students, teachers, staff, and school communities for their continued support and flexibility during these challenging times."
    The change in plans to offer on-campus school across the state Aug. 17, came after a push today from the teachers union, Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association.
       The HSTA statement says, "As coronavirus cases continue to rise exponentially in Hawaiʻi, HSTA believes our public schools should utilize 100-percent distance learning starting Aug. 17 rather than returning to in-person instruction. Distance learning should continue until the end of the first quarter or until such time that public schools are safe for students, teachers, and staff to be together on campuses."
     During a press conference, HSTA President Corey Rosenlee said, "Hawaiʻi can no longer pretend we are not in the middle of a pandemic and that somehow our keiki and our teachers are impervious to this virus. As teachers, we know how important education is, but we are most concerned about the lives of every one of our students. Online classwork cannot replace face-to-face learning, but it ensures that learning continues, and that our keiki and our communities remain safe."

Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association President Corey Rosenlee and Vice President Osa Tui, Jr. asked the state for distance learning only for the first semester, which starts Aug. 17. Kaʻū and Volcano Schools will reopen as planned, with a mixture of in-person and distance learning. Oʻahu schools offer distance-learning for the first four weeks. See their news conference here. Photo from HSTA

   HSTA also called on the state Department of Health for "clear written guidance regarding the rate of positive coronavirus tests, community spread, and metrics to determine the ability of schools to resume in-person instruction safely. For weeks, HSTA has asked the state to provide specific triggers [of] when it would be safe to open schools and, conversely, when school buildings, campuses, or the entire system should close. So far, the state has not provided parents, students, and employees with those critical plans that many states and cities across the country have long had in place."
     The HSTA Board of Directors voted unanimously Thursday night to take these positions and pointed to its memorandum of understanding with the state to ensure acceptable conditions to reopen campuses. View more here.
     HSTA also noted that "With a daily case count now surging into triple digits, Hawaiʻi has become one of the top states in the nation with the fastest-growing number of COVID-19 cases, according to The New York Times. Health officials say if this rate continues, Hawaiʻi's existing hospital capacity will be at risk of being overwhelmed."
     In a letter Wednesday, Hawaiʻi's three neighbor island mayors urged the governor to keep public schools and universities closed for 28 days. State Director of Health Bruce Anderson said on Aug. 4 that rising cases in Hawaiʻi make reopening schools risky. "It doesn't look good, certainly for the schools. We can't open schools if your community isn't healthy. You're just asking for disaster," he said.
     The HSTA statement says, "Our state needs to join 11 of the 15 largest school districts in the country that are starting school with virtual learning. Hawaiʻi is the 12th largest school district in the nation... Six Hawaiʻi public school campuses reported COVID-19 cases over the summer. Yet this information was not disclosed until July 29, and only in response to a media inquiry. Given six cases per 8,000 students enrolled in summer school, infections among 179,000 students who would return to campus in the fall could spike into the hundreds, causing exponential growth in Hawaiʻi's overall case count. At that point, state officials will have no choice but to close school buildings. Starting the school year with distance learning allows our educators, students, and parents to be proactive and best prepared for this situation."
     HSTA also pointed to the pre-pandemic shortage of teachers. "Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Hawaiʻi already suffered from a critical teacher shortage crisis. Since the outbreak, HSTA has received an overwhelming amount of feedback from educators who are considering leaving the profession because they are worried about their health and/or the health of their family members. Many teachers are submitting Americans with Disabilities Act requests for accommodations while others are choosing to retire or take a leave from school this year.

DOD Dir. Kenneth Hara revoked military exemptions from quarantine.

     "One-hundred percent virtual instruction will allow many of these teachers to remain on the job, and provide our keiki with a quality education during this crisis."See today's HSTA news conference here.

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THE PLIGHT OF KAʻŪ COFFEE FARMERS went national with an Associated Press story carried widely today across the nation and beyond. The AP story quotes Kaʻū Coffee farmer Leo Norberte, of Pāhala, from his interview on Hawaiʻi Public Radio on Tuesday. AP says he "works eight hours a day, seven days a week to tend to his 50-acre coffee farm in Kaʻū... Norberte said he has lost over $20,000 per month since the pandemic began." Norberte told HPR, "I sell all roasted to all the store but now no can sell cause nobody buy."

Kaʻū Coffee Mill manager Louis Daniele, back right, promoting the Hawaiʻi coffee industry at a national convention in Boston, with Kaʻū Coffee Mill founder Ed Olson; agricultural land planner John Cross; roaster Kalikoweo Keolanui; The Kaʻū Calendar publisher Julia Neal; and the late Kaʻū Coffee farmer Bull Kailiawa. Photo by William Neal

     The story also quotes Kaʻū Coffee Mill manager Louis Daniele, warning that the harvest season begins this month, but "he's still sitting on $1.2 million worth of coffee he bought in 2019. He questioned how he would be able to pay farmers without federal aid if he can't even move the crops he bought a year ago."
     Daniele told HPR, "Coffee is the second most valuable crop in the State of Hawaiʻi." He pointed out that there is assistance for farmers of papayas, guavas, and Brussels sprouts, but not coffee.
     The Hawaiʻi Coffee Association and its President Chris Manfredi have urged the community to make a plea to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to include coffee farmers in its agricultural assistance programs for the pandemic.
     The Kaʻū Coffee Growers Cooperative alone has 38 members, most of them becoming successful farmers, small business owners, and homeowners since 1996. In that year, the sugar plantation in Kaʻū shut down after more than 100 years of operating in the region, leaving much of the community without jobs. Former plantation workers and new farmers became entrepreneurs and built a successful industry, promoting Kaʻū Coffee as an award-winning specialty brand around the world.
     Farmers are looking to the $16 billion Coronavirus Food Assistance Program to help them save the $50 million coffee-growing industry throughout the islands.

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VOTERS WHO MISSED THE DEADLINE to postmark their ballots for the 2020 Primary Election can walk them into to Nāʻālehu Police Station, 24 hours a day, until tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. Other drop-off places around the island include Pāhoa Police Station, County of Hawaiʻi Aupuni Center in Hilo, Waimea Police Station, West Hawaiʻi Civic Center in Kona, and Rodney Yano Hall in Capt. Cook.

     Saturday is primary election day, with county and state officials promising to tabulate the results as early as possible. It will be the first-ever election in Hawaiʻi with most of the ballots mailed.

     Those who did not receive a ballot in the mail or want to vote in-person may do so at Voter Service Centers in Kona at 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy and Hilo at 101 Pauahi St. Vote in-person through on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Same-day voter registration is available at Voter Service Centers. See elections.hawaii.gov.

FARMERS, RANCHERS, AND PRIVATE FORESTLAND OWNERS are encouraged to take a survey on how the U.S. Department of Agriculture can improve. The new annual survey will help USDA – specifically Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Risk Management Agency – understand what they are doing well and where improvements are needed.

     A selection of 28,000 producers will receive the survey over the next few weeks, but all farmers are encouraged to take the survey at farmers.gov/survey.

     Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey said, "We want to hear from our customers so we can learn what we’re doing right and where we're missing the mark. Good data is critical to good decision-making. The more responses we receive, the better we can understand what we need to do to improve our services to America's farmers, ranchers, and private forestland owners."

     The survey is part of the President's Management Agenda. It requires High Impact Service Provider agencies across the federal government, including FSA and NRCS, to conduct annual surveys to measure and respond to areas needing improvement.

     Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce said, "We recognize producers and our staff may be experiencing a lot of change in how they interact with USDA. This is a good time to check in with our customers."

     Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Matthew Lohr said, "We will use this input to help improve the delivery of our conservation programs as our sister agencies will do for their programs."

     Risk Management Agency Administrator Martin Barbre said, "We're about our customers. RMA works to provide producers with crop insurance policies that meet their needs and we need to know where we can improve."

     The survey consists of 20 questions and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. Responses are confidential, and individual responses will be aggregated. The survey will be open for at least six weeks and will be closed once USDA receives a 30 percent response rate. Learn more and take the survey at www.farmers.gov/survey.