Scandal and intrigue at an early Kaupo school

In a prominent location in Kaupo, at the junction of Piilani Highway and the road leading to Kaupo Ranch headquarters, lies a notable community building: Kaupo School. 

The current building is a recreation of the historic 2-classroom schoolhouse torn down in 2019. That schoolhouse was built in 1923, at least according to County tax records, and closed in 1964.

This was not the first school in Kaupo, but the earlier, Hawaiian-language schools were not “Kaupo schools” but were more geographically (and religiously) targeted: the Nuu school, the Puuomaiai school, the Mokulau school.

However, there was one “Kaupo school” before the 1920s, and this one featured some remarkable engineering involving a cross-town move, as well as a a sex scandal.

To follow this story, we first have to jump back from the 1920s to the mid-1880s. Next, we need to stroll over a mile west on the trail past grass houses and St. Joseph Church to the edge of town at a place called Pukaauhuhu.

The early years: 1886-1908

In 1886, at a point that there were three Hawaiian-language schools in Kaupo, the Board of Education tasked local teacher Christian Andrews with combining these into one English school. On July 23, 1887, the first exams were held at this English school.

It appears that the school was held in a temporary location, as there were repeated petitions in the Hawaiian legislature in 1886 and 1887 to build an English schoolhouse.

In June 1888, construction on the schoolhouse was in progress, according to the newspaper Ko Hawaii Pae Aina:

By September 1888, the Hawaiian Gazette newspaper reported that, “There has been a new schoolhouse erected at Kaupo, of 61 feet by 33 feet dimensions and containing three spacious rooms, each of which is furnished with fifteen handsome double-seated desks.” The contractor was P. A. Anderson. This first English-language school was situated on a 2-acre lot in Pukaauhuhu. 

Kaupo native Josephine Kealoha Marciel was born in 1888, the same year the schoolhouse was constructed. In an interview when she was 72, Marciel recalled her schoolgirl days at Pukaauhuhu, saying there were over 90 students when she attended. This indicates that the school was operating at full capacity, since upon construction it had 3 rooms, each with desk space for 30 students. 

In 1894, the community was scandalized when Christian Andrews, then principal, was arrested for helping assistant teacher Andrew Hina secretly marry a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

An English-language newspaper devoted 2 sentences to the affair. Conversely, the Hawaiian-language Ka Makaainana published multiple articles covering the marriage itself and Andrews’ subsequent trial in Kipahulu.

Apparently, Andrews’ defense was that since the couple already had a sexual relationship, helping them marry was the proper course of action. The article about Andrews’ trial included particularly intimate details:

In the end, here were the outcomes for the parties involved:

• The Kipahulu court sent Andrews' case to a jury trial in Wailuku, where he was acquitted in a marathon all-day trial that lasted until nearly 11 p.m. Andrews did not return to Kaupo until many years later.
• The girl’s parents had the marriage annulled, and she married another man in 1897. The two were married for 44 years and had a dozen children. 
• Hina appears to have left his teaching position (voluntarily or otherwise) but in 1900 was reappointed as assistant teacher at Kaupo.

Scandals aside, schooling proceeded apace for the next decade. Teachers rotated in and out. Notable among these is Lily Aki Marciel, who began teaching in 1903. She ultimately retired from Kaupo School in 1940.

The big move: 1909-1910

By 1909, the school’s location at Pukauhuhu was being reexamined. The location on the outskirts of town created a burden. Water, for example, had to be hauled to the school from miles away. This then leads to the unusual case of how the schoolhouse left Pukaauhuhu and moved east.

That same year, John W. Kawaakoa, a legislator in the Territorial House of Representatives, pushed for funding to move the school to a “proposed new location”. The funding went through, and by May 1910, the Maui County engineer put out a call for bids to move the schoolhouse.

In total, there were four bids to move the building: 

• H. K. K. Defries. Cost: $1,725, time to move: 40 days
• Albert Trask: $1,600, 65 days
• J. W. Kawaakoa: $1,197, 50 days. 
• Cyrus T. Green and Alton: $993.85, 90 days

In June, the county awarded the contract to J. W. Kawaakoa, the same legislator who proposed the funding for the move, saying that his bid was the lowest proposal that complied with the time limit requirement.

Unfortunately, there are no records detailing this move. But since there is no mention in the legislation or the bid request about dismantling and rebuilding the school, presumably the entire building, consisting of 2,000 square feet, was moved in whole. 

In fact, techniques for moving structures had been around for hundreds of years by that point. Considering the remoteness of the area, a team of horses and rollers may have been used. 

Whatever the system, it must have been quite a sight for the residents to see their school dragged slowly through town. A little math and a few assumptions help provide an illustration of this trek. The school was moved about 1.5 miles. Assuming the work team (1) completed the work in 50 days, (2) worked 10 hours a day, and (3) only took Sundays off, then the schoolhouse crept along at about 20 feet per hour on average.

In any event, the schoolhouse had been safely installed by September 1910, according to an article in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser:

“The trail to [Antone Vierra] Marciel’s house runs mauka from the new schoolhouse which has just been finished. The site of the schoolhouse has been changed, the old location being too much out of the way for many children.”

The final act: 1911-1923

Once the schoolhouse was relocated, news quietened down during its final years. In one mention, the school earned second place in lauhala weaving at the 1916 fair (the first county fair for Maui).

A number of articles revolved around the school garden, with crops including corn, beans, watermelons, “muskmelons”, peppers and sweet potatoes. Mina Marciel-Atai (daughter of Josephine Marciel, mentioned above) recalled that the produce from the school garden was cooked for school lunch and extras sent home with the students.

In 1914, Christian Andrews returned to Kaupo and was reappointed principal of the school. Since leaving Kaupo in 1894, an Oahu community drove him out of a teaching post, the Board of Education considered firing him, and he had “often been an unsuccessful candidate for legislative honors”.

In 1920, a teacher’s cottage was built on the property. The 2-bedroom house was built by contractor E. C. Mellor for $3,200.

Oddly, there is no mention of the schoolhouse being demolished. However, this presumably occurred around 1923, when the next schoolhouse was built.

In a 1977 interview, Mina’s brother Francis “Tito” Marciel talked about the schoolhouse. Tito attended Kaupo School from around 1917 to 1923 and so would have been one of the final students at the old building.

Question: Where did you go to school?
Tito: Kaupo School.
Q: Down here at the foot of the road?
Tito: Yes.
Q: Was that the same school building?
Tito: No. No. Was a different building.
Q: What was that school like?
Tito: Was something like this school but was bigger.
Q: How many kids were going to school?
Tito: We had over a hundred.

Tito’s comments reveal that the number of students had not dropped drastically since the late 1800s. Thus, it is somewhat odd that the old, three-classroom schoolhouse was replaced with a smaller building with two classrooms. But perhaps officials anticipated a drop-off in students going forward, as the overall population in Kaupo was declining. Indeed, this is what did happen. By 1961, there were 9 students. Three years later, there were 5 students, and the school closed its doors.