More than a dozen traveling preschools to close across Hawaii | News
After nearly 30 years, the Partners in Development Foundation is shutting down 17 Tutu and Me traveling preschool sites across Hawaii as federal funding dries up. The closures will impact thousands of keiki and families, especially in rural communities, raising concerns about the future of Native Hawaiian education programs.
HONOLULU (Island News) — After almost 30 years, a nonprofit that has provided cultural family programs to thousands of keiki across the pae ‘aina is closing more than a dozen traveling preschools now that federal funding has dried up.
Pua Kaholokula has greatly benefited from the Tutu and Me preschool program for almost 10 years. It has helped her teach her five mo’opuna, or grandchildren, the building blocks of learning.
“It’s been a really valuable program for not just the keiki,” Kaholokula said.
But that program is about to go away.
Federal funding for Native Hawaiian organizations has dried up, forcing the nonprofit Partners in Development Foundation, which runs Tutu and Me to close 17 sites in remote and rural communities and a virtual program at the end of August.
“This is a time of deep kind of heart-wrenching decisions that have to be made because of the federal initiatives and the course corrections that we’re having to make because of the changes in resources to Native Hawaiians,” said Shawn Kana’iaupuni, president and CEO of Partners in Development Foundation.
And those changes will be painful.
The agency has lost $15 million for early childhood education, family support and youth workforce development programs affecting about 6,000 participants.
“Native Hawaiian education, Native Hawaiian health, Native Hawaiian housing — I mean all of this is under attack right now,” Kaholokula said.
The impacts are far reaching.
“They range from the developmental aspects of the youngest brains of our youngest children and in those important times of developmental growth to kindergarten readiness and things like supporting our teachers and our whole DOE educational system,” she added.
And for families like the Kaholokulas, “again we’re going to be losing a valuable resource for our keiki and for our kupuna. Hopefully somebody can step in and help out because it’s them that will be missing out.”
