What I remember and how it is now? (Honolulu, Hilo: renting, house)

[pilikia]

Hello all you beautiful people!

Lets see... I am researching in relocating my daughter and I to possibly the BI. My daughter is 8 and would not be homeschooled and I remember how the schools were for me which makes me a bit nervous..

I came to Oahu when I was 2 yrs old and grew up in Honolulu making waikiki my main spot for beach fun ( I see they cleaned up that murky lagoon with all the man O' war in it with the little island in the middle) lol. I later moved to Wahiawa, I have visted all over the island on THE BUS. Nothing ever beat the laid back flow lifestyle. I loved the food (poi being my favorite, and still order it off amazon but its not the same) I ate rice with everything, the culture, the people, so many different faces to appreciate. It was just amazing.. However, when I was 15 a dark turn in my life ended me in Arkansas... I had such a huge culture shock, the difference in the school education, the way the south dressed, interacted with each other etc. Needless to say I was a shell of a person for a really long time because I couldnt adapt, and couldnt accept. So fast foward 4 years ago I moved to Florida... I moved because I was looking for the "islandy" feel, something that can compare somewhat to the pacific beaches I used to walk and I didnt find it.. The water here absolutely scares me.. Its dark, murky, and **** is bumping into you.. So I gave up with the beach and invested in an above ground pool. Nothing has ever felt like home, and I grew into this bitter person that I never knew existed all because I hated being uprooted and forced to conform into "a southern girl."

Years have passed here. I have an 8 year old daughter as mentioned, I probably wouldnt go back to Oahu as I am looking for something small town, farmers markets, vintage/old town feel and for the love of God a beach that I can see the bottom and swim around without flesh eating bacteria plaguing the water or alligators just hanging out in the surf, damn bull or white sharks swimming around in knee high water.

I remember the schools.. I attended Washington intermediate in Honolulu and Leilehua high school in Wahiawa and in Washington they had a "kill hoale day" Leilehua wasnt much better. I am olive skinned with brown eyes and brown hair my brother is as white as a sheet with blue eyes and blonde hair and he never got any mercy, I had my few run in's but my brother was tormented to no end. My daughter looks like me so she could pass as "local" and possibly get by without all the problems my brother had but my question to you is

How are the schools on the BI? Are ANY public schools ok or is Private the only option?

I have a working competition/personal protection Belgian Malinois dog that WILL bite a stranger she is not a 'pet friendly' dog that strangers just walk up to, to pet. She is a family working dog that is amazing with us but prefers not to be social how does that work with quarantine policies? She is 2, and had her Rabies vax already.

I have bought a house and have paid off a considerable amount and after speaking with the realtor would have no problem selling it and profiting 40k thats not including selling vehicles, furniture etc. Everything would sell. Only thing that would go was sentimentals, the dog, us and the ******* cat my daughter insists on loving.

I am a minimalist. I can live just like that, I dont need fancy anything just decent and intact. I could have easily went for a 300k house and chose a 65k just because I dont believe in living to pay something off.

Renting would be first priority but I worry because I remember Hi isnt very pet friendly. I had a pet chicken and we had to pay a huge pet deposit for it to be outside in a pen and run around the backyard in Wahiawa. lol.
That is my only issue with renting.

Jobs.. I can do anything. I can work any hours, I am a driven individual and my daughter is number one so I can do it. Right now I Manage Animal Control and make a decent salary considering the employment issues here. So I am not necessarily looking for that kind of career but I would flourish in an animal related job but again if I couldnt get one then thats fine too.

I heard the islands are different. How is the BI different from Oahu?

I dont want my daughter to experience the reality of the south. The mainland is very different and sometimes more difficult than island life. I want her to grow up as I did, with culture, and different foods, ethnics, and can learn to appreciate the beauty that surrounds the island, and of course the water because personally im scared to let her jump in this questionable ocean here. That is my goal, not a pipe dream.

I hope to hear all comments, constructive, positive, negative. I am a very patient individual so jumping off the cliff is not for me. I want to learn everything I can and visiting is in the works too. I visited Maui when I was young but I just remember being in the water.

Have an amazing day. Aloha, from a island girl in a southern zip up.

[whtviper1]

I'll net it out in a short answer. The public schools are mostly awful.

[Grassyknoll]

We moved from Northern California with my wife and (then 12 year old) daughter who is Haole as Haole can be-blonde hair, blue eyes etc. We live in the poorest district on the BI and the schools reflect that; not saying that negatively, just as fact.
She has had challenges, but is doing okay in school and has made friends from across the spectrum of Hawai'is' cultures. But my daughter has always been mentally tough and wIill fight if provoked to. The "scrap" culture does exist, and since she has no problem standing up for herself and fighting her own fights, she doesn't stand out as a target.
In the long run, I think her challenges here will leave her with a better perspective on life and be more valuable than being raised in the superficial, consumerism driven culture of California.
Only you know your daughter well enough to know how she will deal with the various challenges of assimilating into a different culture.

[whtviper1]

Gosh Grassykoll - culture? Challenges? Doing ok? Fight? Trying to be polite - will her as you put it one of the poorest districts in Hawaii get her into a good college?

A better perspective - life doesn't necessarily pay the bills in my opinion.

Not trying to be harsh - but one of my pet peeves of dreamers is dragging kids to a poorly run public school system. They have no choice.

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

Gosh Grassykoll - culture? Challenges? Doing ok? Fight? Trying to be polite - will her as you put it one of the poorest districts in Hawaii get her into a good college?

A better perspective - life doesn't necessarily pay the bills in my opinion.

Not trying to be harsh - but one of my pet peeves of dreamers is dragging kids to a poorly run public school system. They have no choice.

Funny, I rose to be an executive at a Fortune 300 company and retired at 48. Every member that worked under me on my team had an MBA and at least one other degree, I had neither. If my daughter decides to go to college, I am sure she will do just fine; right now she is leaning toward military service. A college degree helps, but is absolutely no assurance of success in life.

I don't feel the schools here are all that bad. You have a large segment of the population that does not value education much and that likely drags down overall school scores. I have heard that kids that move here and want to take AP classes actually do well as there is less competition for those classes than in a lot of mainland school districts.
I have transferred employees over from the mainland who brought and enrolled their children here. They were generally pleased with the schools. My experiences are limited though and I don't mean to downplay the issues others report with the schools here.
But our experiences after 3 years of schooling, have been pretty positive.

[terracore]

As far as the public school system is concerned, I have heard from many sources that the "bad stuff" doesn't start until middle school. So if your child enters into grade school they have a few years before the full weight of a crappy public education system rear's it's ugly head. I'm talking about the social interactions, not the education. I understand the education to be a turd show from K-12. My daughter transferred here in High School and I've posted repeatedly about her experiences on this forum. Here's a link to one of them: Hilo, a good place to live? (scroll down until you see my post) It's not all bad but your child will need an advocate if the child can't be their own advocate.


I don't think the schools on the BI are any worse than Oahu, they might actually be better, especially on the East side. A friend of mine transferred here with a son in High School on the Kona side and he had to send him back to the mainland to finish high school. His son's quote was, "I can hold my own in a fair fight, but I can't fight off a group of them." That was 4 years ago Kealakehe High School In Hawaii Major Race Riots | Education News

[whtviper1]

We can debate which island is worse - who cares. They are all bad.

Results at least to me matter and the test scores show BI as last of the major islands. Again, they are all bad statewide and while we can make excuses for culture (really) or education not important (really) kids generally do not perform well in Hawaii public schools.

Of course there are exceptions. You may or may not have one.

[terracore]

Need to add, you said that you manage animal control, my wife and I have volunteered with humane societies and animal rescues for nearly 20 years, including here on the BI. There seems to be a lot of turnover in the shelters, I'm sure the pay isn't great but with your experience you should be able to score a job. (The humane society has the animal control contract) Also, there is a Petco opening in Hilo, scheduled for November time frame. They should be hiring soon.

[terracore]

"Of course there are exceptions. You may or may not have one."


Some of my daughter's friends at KHS were pregnant with their second child. Many others, their only transportation to/from school was hitchhiking. Some of them hitchhiked or walked 15 miles each way to attend school. Others had to make their own clothes to attend formal dances. These aren't faults of the public school system. The ones that stand out aren't necessarily exceptions, they are the one's who's parents put out a fraction of the effort the school system did. Just my daughter's observations.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by terracore

"Of course there are exceptions. You may or may not have one."


Some of my daughter's friends at KHS were pregnant with their second child. Many others, their only transportation to/from school was hitchhiking. Some of them hitchhiked or walked 15 miles each way to attend school. Others had to make their own clothes to attend formal dances. These aren't faults of the public school system. The ones that stand out aren't necessarily exceptions, they are the one's who's parents put out a fraction of the effort the school system did. Just my daughter's observations.

Yikes to that. Second child?

I've read chronic absenteeism in Puna approaches 40%. I think that's defined as 15+ days per year out of school.

You can't learn if you don't go to school.