When the official announcement came that state funded public schools would be closed on 17 Fridays between October and May, the general consensus was one of shock. How could Governor Lingle, who originally campaigned for a better education for Hawaii’s children, take the school year from 180 to 163 school days – 12 days short of what many colleges require for acceptance? Eventually the reality set in and parents were left with the responsibility of providing care for their children on “Furlough Fridays.”

The good news is, we live in Hawaii where aunties, uncles and grandparents, like guardian angels, can be counted on when the keiki need help. In this time of economic uncertainty, it is risky for families to invest in day care programs when they do not know if the State will stick to its original intention of two years of Furlough Fridays. 

Of 20 families surveyed in East Oahu, most stated that they are relying on family and friends to help get through this adversity. Many believe it will not last the entire two years. Going on that assumption, families are sharing Fridays, like carpooling. This means that the children will be with one adult at a time, taking off time from work to care for them. Janie Sui of Hawaii Kai who has a nine-year-old daughter shares the responsibility of Furlough Fridays with two other friends. “Between the three of us, it won’t be so bad,” says Sui. “None of us can afford to take every Friday off work, but once a month is not so bad. And, the girls play and work well together, helping each other with the homework.” Other families are just choosing to alternate who takes off work:  Mom or Dad. 

One mother, who declined to be named, talked about the dark side of Furlough Fridays. Some children well under the age of 13 are left alone, latch-key style or even worse. All those kids who are already at risk will be unsupervised and uneducated while they loiter, or even worse, break into homes where they know people are at work. “But what happens if they break into a home where a nine or 10-year-old is home alone?” she asked.

On a brighter note, Charles and Hunter Kam stated that they get to spend time with their dad. Corrine and Randy Huntress have a 10-year-old daughter and are self-employed as a real estate agent and handyman. The Huntress family believes that you have to go with the flow. “We are taking this with the attitude that it allows more family time. We are trying to make lemonade out of lemons. It is helpful that our daughter’s teacher makes himself available everyday after school for children needing help with the extra homework.”

Casey Kwak, whose son and daughter are 13 and 11, admits that programs for two children are not in the family budget. “It is more reasonable for one of us [a parent] to stay home. And, it is extremely difficult to find programs for kids over 12 years old.” Ellie Matsushida believes that the Furlough Fridays are not a free day. Her daughter has the choice of some academic program being offered. “Kumon, Mathnasium, and other places offer academic days, and I have heard about teachers who are offering creative writing workshops in their homes. These are all real options for my daughter. It is not FREE Friday, it is still an academic day, in my opinion.”

Some of the families interviewed had children who were in private school. Their opinion of what is happening tended to be the same. Tanja Browne summed it up nicely. “Our children go to private school and we have not been affected by the furloughs, although times are tough in all the other ways. I cross my fingers that the budgets get cleared up and kids can return back to school where they have a right to be.”

Locally, if you are looking for something for your children, you can try the YMCA (YMCAhonolulu.org) who offer a program for ages 5-12; Futbol Fridays (soccerhawaii.com), an all day soccer camp; or Sports Camp (TheOahuClub.com). If you have high school children, Chaminade University is offering 3 free half days in conjunction with their Biology department (Chaminade.edu).

Overall, the message from all parents was the same. “It’s not that we are frustrated about what to do with our children on these 17 days. It’s that we believed in the public school system to provide an education that will make our kids competitive in the real world. Our taxes are paying for this, the teachers are doing their best to make good on that belief, and the state is not doing its job. The job we are also paying them to do:  make smart, educated choices.”