KS Hawai'i student travel: What you need to know

Oct. 23, 2020

Contributed by Shaundor Chillingworth

[updated December 21, 2020]

On behalf of everyone at Kamehameha Schools, I want to extend a sincere mahalo for your kōkua as we continue to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re excited to move forward with hybrid learning and it has been so nice seeing haumāna back on campus for some of the new hybrid learning opportunities that have been taking place. With every step along this journey, we’ve carefully considered the health and safety of our entire KS ‘ohana.

As our state and county governments address reopening our islands for travel, we recognize some families may want to take advantage of this opportunity for personal travel. With this in mind, we’ve updated our travel guidelines for KS students to account for personal travel (and the associated risk), reflecting not only our commitment to protecting the health and safety of our KS community but also managing community spread. Our travel guidelines are informed by peer review, including current practices at other large independent schools.

We are implementing the following changes, effective Monday, Oct. 26, for students and staff who will be participating in on-campus or onsite activities:

  • The travel notification process applies to anyone (students, ʻohana, employees, vendors/contractors) who plans to be physically present on a KS campus or site within 10 days of their return from travel. If you are in distance learning or are not participating in any face-to-face activities through hybrid learning, you do not need to complete the notification. 
  • KS students and employees who travel inter-island or out-of-state on their personal time must follow all applicable state and county rules, including compliance with any required quarantine periods.
  • Parents should inform our kula of their plans prior to their family / child’s travel. Find travel notification details on our website.

INTER-ISLAND

OUT OF STATE

  • The state’s pre-travel COVID-19 test to avoid quarantine is not sufficientto return to a KS site. Families should plan to be off-campus for at least a week, if traveling out of state.
    • If a student or employee returns from out-of-state travel and is not subject to a state-mandated quarantine because he/she took a 72-hour pre-travel COVID-19 test, or received a state or county exemption due to being an essential worker, the student/employee must still remain off site for 10 days unless he/she receives a subsequent Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT), also known as the PCR test;
    • That test needs to be conducted after the fifth day following his/her arrival. Should this second test return a negative result, the student or staff member would be allowed to return to campus once they receive clearance.
  • To receive clearance, parents are required to email a post-travel notification and provide relevant documentation before their child can return to campus.
     

KS will not schedule any school-related travel, interisland or out of state, for the second semester or Summer 2021.

For additional information on travel, please visit our KS Hawai‘i student travel: What you need to know webpage. Expect that KS will continue to update our travel-related guidelines as the state and county governments evolve their rules on out-of-state travel and related testing protocols.

If you do need to travel, we wish you a safe journey and mahalo you for taking these additional steps to ensure the health and safety of our community. 

‘O au iho nō me ke aloha ʻohana ē,

M. Kāhealani Naeʻole-Wong
Poʻo Kula, Kamehameha Hawaiʻi