HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) announced it is making strides in addressing faulty fire alarm systems in schools.
Since April, 15 schools have been removed from the fire watch list.
A recent report identifies 72 schools with fire alarm systems older than 20 years that lack replacement parts, along with 76 schools with systems under 20 years old but also missing replacement components.
Deputy Superintendent for Operations Randy Moore highlighted the need for funding, noting that if a fire alarm system typically lasts 20 years, about 13 schools per year require replacement at an estimated cost of $2.5 million each.
“We need to spend over $30 million in perpetuity to keep our fire alarm systems operable,” he said, not accounting for ongoing maintenance costs.
Additionally, the DOE is considering implementing wearable devices for schools on the fire watch list to enable quicker emergency responses with the push of a button.