On Wednesday, September 2 at around 9:40 a.m., HBA students were dismissed early from school due to a power outage.
The power outage affected several areas such as Downtown Honolulu, Kalihi, Nuuanu, and Pauoa. Soon after the power went out, an announcement was made over the PA system for teachers to continue on with their classes until they received further instruction from the administration.
“The decision to close the school is never one that we take lightly, but…it seemed like the necessary move.”
Vice Principal Ryan Frontiera
[/one_third]With the power down, all of the campus’ air conditioners were rendered useless, leaving students to keep cool by fanning themselves with papers, folders, and anything on hand. To compensate for the loss of electricity, teachers had to get creative with their lesson plans. English teacher Dawson Vorderbruegge’s English 11 class hit the books outdoors. “I took my class to the cafeteria to get a little breeze,” said Vorderbruegge, “but even the breeze was turned off!” Soldiers of Light also took class outside as they awaited further instructions. Other classes worked with what they had and continued on as best as they could.
Once the decision was made that school was indeed going to close, students were told to return to their homerooms, where teachers passed out Student Early Release forms. Parents were called, forms were signed, and within an hour most students were off campus.
According to Vice Principal Ryan Frontiera, HECO indicated that it would take about two hours for power to be restored. “The decision to close the school is never one that we take lightly, but given the information that we received from HECO, it seemed like the necessary move,” he said.
According to Hawaii News Now, “a device called a ‘lightning arrester’ was damaged, causing the outage.” Shortly after the announcement about the school closure was made, HECO was able to restore power to the area. A special schedule for Thursday was created to make up for the loss of class time.
