Hawaii public schools, most state and county offices to be closed Monday

Nearly all state and county government offices, including all Hawaii public schools, will be closed Monday in the aftermath of Hurricane Lala this weekend.

The closure affects the Hawaii Department of Education schools and public charter schools, courts and Judiciary offices statewide. Gov. Josh Green’s office announced that state employees affected by the office closures should not report to work and will be granted administrative leave.

“The safety of our people remains our highest priority as we’re responding to these storm impacts,” Green said in a news release. “Our state crews continue to work around the clock to protect life and property, and we encourage our residents and visitors to continue to shelter in place.”

For the DOE, the closure will allow time to complete campus safety assessments, restore utilities and address storm-related impacts, officials said.

In addition to Monday’s school closures, Naalehu Elementary on Hawaii island will remain closed to students and staff through Thursday because of storm-related damage and road closures affecting access, they said.

The closure of state offices does not include the following employees:

>>Departmental disaster/emergency coordinators;

>> Disaster response workers;

>> Employees whose work involves continuing crucial operations/services, such as hospital workers, correctional workers, building and grounds maintenance and infrastructure support workers, food service, etc;

>> And employees who are assigned to remote work.

Employees who fall into these categories must report to work, or work remotely. Employees who don’t know whether they fall into one of these categories should contact their supervisor or manager, state officials said.

University of Hawaii campuses were still assessing the state of its 10 campuses and will announce later tonight the status of campus operations Monday. Several campuses, including

UH Manoa, Windward Community College and Kapiolani Community College, were without power today.

Meanwhile, the Department of Land & Natural Resources said all state parks on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii island will remain closed until further notice. This includes ‘Iolani Palace, the Queen Emma Summer Palace and Mauna ‘Ala (the Royal Mausoleum) on Oahu.

Closures will remain in effect until state and county emergency management personnel have completed post-storm assessments and determined it is safe to resume normal operations, officials said.

Honolulu city officials said the Monday closures will include all public park facilities, Honolulu Zoo, municipal golf courses, botanical gardens, satellite city halls and driver licensing centers.

Essential city services and transportation that will not be included in Monday’s shutdown include:

>> Residential refuse will be collected as scheduled. Transfer stations, refuse convenience centers, H-POWER and the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill will be open.

>> TheBus, Skyline and TheHandi-Van will operate on their normal schedules. Riders should allow additional travel time as localized road closures, detours or delays may continue.

>> Police, fire, emergency medical services, Ocean Safety and other critical response and recovery functions will continue without interruption.