When King Kamehameha III Elementary School burned to the ground on August 8 in Lahaina, Hawaii, 650 children were registered there, according to Governor Josh Green. They were not in school that day because there was no electricity. The children were home alone or with grandparents. The fast-moving fire destroyed 2,200 residences in the surrounding area and 500 businesses.

The contract for the temporary school plan, which was awarded in November by the Army Corps of Engineers, estimates the project to be finished in 95 days. The cost is almost $54 million. It includes modular buildings, a basketball court and “buildings for administration and learning resources,” according to the Maui News, with the money coming from FEMA.

About two hundred students from the destroyed school are currently sharing space at Princess Nahi’ena’ena Elementary School and will transfer to the Taj Mahal of temporary schools in early 2024. So where are the other 450? Of the dead who were identified after the fire, there are obituaries for only three children.

Let’s pretend that half of the missing children went to online learning, moved from the island, or attend private schools, where are the rest of them? This question will not go away until it is answered.

The governor now says that 103 people died in the fire. That is an outright lie, according to a Maui resident. He said that he saw all the trucks carrying the dead and estimated at least 600 people died. He also said no one ever took into account the number of homeless and unknown tourists who were in Lahaina on the day of the fire.

No one has mentioned what it will cost to build a “permanent” school.

Susan Daniels is a licensed investigator and the author of The Rubbish Hauler's Wife versus Barack Obama: A True Story available on Amazon.com.

Image: State Farm