Families want playground access. In Hawaii, a bill advanced by lawmakers would make it easier to seek criminal trespassing charges against people who enter school grounds on weekends or holidays without first receiving a warning, the Associated Press reported. The proposal, Senate Bill 2611, passed through the Senate and is now awaiting a House hearing.
Parents and some local leaders have pressed the Hawaii Department of Education in recent years to open school playgrounds and fields to the public when classes aren’t in session. The request, the report said, has been especially focused on providing safer recreational options in communities where public parks are limited.
At the same time, lawmakers introduced multiple proposals earlier in the session intended to require the department to make recreational facilities available to communities. Halfway through the session, however, the Legislature began moving in the opposite direction with a measure aimed at school trespassing that could also criminalize parents.
Under Senate Bill 2611, people who set foot on school grounds on weekends or holidays could face criminal trespassing charges without even receiving a warning from police or school administrators. The bill would carry potential penalties of up to a year in jail and $2,000 in fines.
Parent Maya Childress, speaking in the context of the policy debate, said families were trying to keep their children in “a safe and controlled environment.” She said, “People are just trying to get their kids out of the house and into a safe and controlled environment,” and added, “It’s just making it more difficult.” Childress also argued that changing the trespassing law would not deter weekend visits to school playgrounds, saying people “are going to still go” and “They’re going to chance it,” and she said she has never been approached by police or school administrators while taking her three children to play at ʻAikahi Elementary’s playground on weekends.
Not all lawmakers or school officials supported expanding public access. Rep. Trish La Chica, the report said, has argued for a compromise that allows families to use campus facilities for recreation while still addressing schools’ concerns about liability and safety, saying, “The perception is that there’s nothing we can do to promote recreation and physical activity,” and “I feel like we should be willing to work through the logistics of that to grant more access to our community.”
In legislative hearings, principals raised concerns that after-hours public entry could worsen vandalism, homelessness, and unsanitary conditions on school campuses. Kaimukī High School Principal Lorelei Aiwohi said in written testimony, “Every Monday morning, my staff is forced to deal with a staggering array of vandalism and biohazards before students can safely step onto campus,” describing the burden on staff that must be addressed before students can safely return.
Under current law, individuals can be charged for trespassing on campuses on weekends or holidays only after administrators or law enforcement have first given a warning. The report said no warning is required for charges for trespassing at night, between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. DOE Communications Director Nanea Ching said the department does not track the number of police calls regarding trespassing after school hours.
In written testimony, Superintendent Keith Hayashi argued that Senate Bill 2611 could protect school employees from harassment and violence, pointing to a recent statewide focus after a parent assaulted a high school athletic director. Kāneʻohe Elementary Principal Derek Minakami said eliminating the warning requirement could help schools address aggressive or unsafe behavior, and he said schools do not always have the 24/7 security needed to catch intruders and call police.
Other principals expressed a view that communication and behavior change might determine whether a legal shift would improve conditions. Holomua Elementary Principal Christopher Bonilla said he is hopeful the bill change would discourage weekend entries and said lawmakers and schools would need to clearly communicate any new rules. He said, “If the public is more aware of this, they’ll think twice.”
The policy debate also includes proposals that would have expanded weekend access through pilots rather than tightening enforcement. House Bill 1786 proposed a four-year pilot program requiring schools to make outdoor facilities available for public use on weekends without fees or permitting applications and would have required warning signs that the DOE is not responsible for injuries occurring on weekends. The report said the measure died in the House Education Committee.
Supporters of more access pointed to a system that they said could be inconsistent and costly under current rules, including DOE hourly rental prices described as ranging from $2 for an unlit parking lot to more than $230 for a large, air-conditioned auditorium, and $5 an hour to rent a school playfield. DOE leaders, the report said, expressed concerns that public use could increase costly repairs and described examples of damage, including vandalism in 2021 and a fire intentionally set in 2023.
State and city officials have also looked to past partnerships for evidence that community programming on campuses can work. The report described a 2005 pilot at Farrington High School that allowed the City and County of Honolulu to run free exercise programs several times a week, with the city providing staff and the school offering the recreational space at no charge. Department of Health Administrator Lola Irvin said the school did not report any cases of vandalism during the pilot, and researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi found that more than 80% of participants reported finding a safe space to exercise and increased physical activity, according to the report.
The report said Honolulu and the DOE have not entered similar partnerships since the Farrington pilot, but lawmakers earlier this year introduced resolutions seeking more cooperation so that DOE outdoor campus facilities could be used by the public when classes aren’t in session. Those resolutions have not yet been scheduled for hearings in the House or Senate, leaving Childress skeptical that state and county agencies can reach an agreement soon. She said, “If they could get some kind of agreement on paper and expand access to playgrounds on weekends or off school hours, that would be amazing,” and added that it would mean, “Then we wouldn’t have to jump a fence.”