Contact

Campus Safety

Important Numbers

Punahou School Administration:
808.944.5711

Punahou School Anonymous Helpline:

844.513.8110

State of Hawaii Crisis Line:

808.832.3100

National Crisis Text Line:

741741

National Suicide Hotline:

1.800.SUICIDE (1.800.784.2433)

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:

1.800.273.TALK (8255)

The Sex Abuse Treatment Center:

808.524.7273

Hawaii Child Welfare Services:

808.832.5300

Honolulu Police Department:

911 (808.529.3111)

For personal problems, employees may receive confidential professional short-term help through Punahou’s Employee Assistance Program

Questions?

If you have any questions or concerns about school safety, please contact: safety@punahou.edu

Punahou School’s highest priority is ensuring the health, safety and well-being of its community.

Punahou encourages students and parents to talk with teachers, deans, counselors and administrators if they have any concerns or questions regarding their safety or the safety of other students.


If you or a student you know is in an unsafe or challenging situation; experiencing or witnessing drug or alcohol use or addiction; harassment, intimidation or bullying; sexual abuse or harassment; suicidal thoughts, inclinations or actions; or violence or threats of violence, we urge you to notify the School or submit an anonymous report through the Punahou Community Helpline.

Over the past few years, Punahou has taken significant steps to address student safety, and we are grateful for the dedication that our faculty and staff have put toward this effort.

Working with nationally recognized experts in school safety and security, we have implemented the following:

List of 14 items.

  • Community Care Response Team (CCRT)

    The Community Care Liaison (CCL) acts as a support, point of contact, resource and advocate for students who report sexual abuse or harassment.

    A rapid response team of counselors and administrators to report allegations of abuse to the proper authorities
    The Community Care Response Team (CCRT) is responsible for the management of cases related to allegations of abuse and harassment involving members of the Punahou School community. The CCRT is comprised of school principals, deans, faculty members, counselors and other school administrators, including a Community Care Liaison (CCL).

    During the process of addressing a report of abuse, the CCRT will ensure that the victim’s safety is paramount and will provide or make referrals for other types of support as necessary. The team also involves the student’s family as the first line of response in dealing with sensitive matters.

    The CCRT is responsible for:

    • Student Safety: The CCRT will determine if any immediate emergency, medical or legal assistance is required or requested by the student. The CCRT will determine if measures are needed to separate the student and alleged offender and, if so, implement those measures.
    • Student Support and Accommodations: The CCL will establish contact with the student and their family to offer support services that may be appropriate to their situation, and keep the student and family apprised of the status of the school’s response to the report.
    • External Reporting: The CCRT will ensure all mandated reports have been made to the appropriate public agencies.
    • Confidentiality: The CCRT will make every effort to maintain the confidentiality of the report and subsequent investigations – notwithstanding mandatory reporting laws and civil requirements for disclosure – and limit disclosure to those persons with a “need-to-know”.
  • Community Care Liaisons

    The CCL assists students during the course of the CCRT’s response and conclusion of their review and any investigation that is conducted. The CCL also:

    • Takes appropriate measures to protect and assist the student who reports abuse or harassment, including coordinating with local law enforcement and court systems
    • Makes referrals for or facilitates professional school and/or public resources for the student who may need medical or psychological services
    • Informs the student of Punahou’s internal and public mandated reporting obligations
    • Advises students and their families that Punahou may conduct an investigation into their report — notwithstanding the student’s desire to participate
    • Advises students and their families of their right to pursue criminal charges against offenders in cases of child abuse or sexual assault
    • Educates the student on the CCRT’s responsibilities and procedures to address their report
    • Keeps the student and their family informed of CCRT actions and results
    • Informs the student about what constitutes retaliation and how to report it
    • Documents actions taken to support and communicate with the student and their family
  • Safety and Privacy Accommodations

    The CCRT and CCL assist with providing certain accommodations from Punahou School to address safety or privacy concerns, the impact of trauma or stress or scheduling conflicts that arise as a result of judicial or criminal proceedings. Punahou School will ensure that such accommodations are provided where appropriate.

    Common accommodation requests include:

    • Excused absences
    • Extensions on assignments
    • Retroactive or late drops
    • Adjustments in schedules or locations
    • Class reassignment
    • Request for no contact between student reporting the incident and responding party
  • Mandatory Sexual Misconduct Training

    All faculty, staff, coaches and other employees of Punahou School are required to complete mandatory sexual misconduct training as condition of their employment. The training is conducted by a clinical psychologist and leading expert in the areas of sexual misconduct prevention and reporting.
  • Mandatory Reporting Policy

    As outlined in our Employee Code of Conduct, every employee and volunteer who works at Punahou is deemed a mandatory reporter and is required to alert authorities about suspected abuse.
  • Mental Health and Counseling Resources

    Our team of counselors collaborate and consult with administration, school staff, teachers, psychologists and families to provide general guidance and faculty support to help students be successful at school. Counselors encourage, intervene and advocate for students experiencing personal, academic and developmental difficulties.

    Support services include: counseling, consultation, crisis intervention and social and emotional education. Attention is paid to the sensitivity of the content of counseling conversations. Depending on the situation, legal and ethical requirements may demand that information be revealed to prevent harm to the student.
  • Student Safety and Security Committee

    The Student Safety and Security Committee (SSSC) is charged with the creation, implementation and compliance of policies around student welfare and campus safety including:

    • Implementing measures to enhance the physical security of the campus for the Punahou community.
    • Communicating and educating externally and internally regarding student welfare and security initiatives.
    • Analyzing emerging areas of risk and developing recommendations for consideration by the School leadership.
  • Campus Security

    Punahou employs a team of security guards who are a familiar and reassuring presence on campus. In addition to covering the campus and facilities, they assist visitors and direct traffic flow during peak times. The School also hires sheriffs as an added security measure.
    A system of security cameras are installed across campus, located at campus entrances in addition to other strategic points, such as common gathering areas. None are located inside buildings. These cameras support ongoing safety planning and assist Security when an incident occurs.

    On a large and open campus, each member of the campus community is encouraged to take campus safety seriously and support safety efforts. This includes driving safely and with aloha for others, respecting security and staff instructions while on campus, taking care of others on campus and being alert to unusual or potentially dangerous situations.

    Campus Security can be reached by calling 944.5777.
  • Emergency Procedures

    Punahou School’s Emergency Plan focuses on the safety and security of the children in our care. It addresses the challenges of a spacious and accessible campus, and takes advantage of its numerous resources: a faculty and staff dedicated to caring for children, a mobile staff with appropriate equipment to respond rapidly, and facilities and supplies which can accommodate and support children and adults during a variety of emergency situations.

    The Emergency Plan is in place to guide response in a variety of possible situations which have the potential of putting students at risk and/or disrupting school operations. A Crisis Response Team guides actions taken during an emergency based on standard multi-level warning systems pre-determined and communicated on campus. Teachers will have immediate responsibility for the students in their charge.

    Emergency information will be available on the public website, punahou.edu, which will be updated as information is known. Information may also be relayed via radio and/or TV broadcasts (when appropriate), and messages on the School’s telephone system. 

    Parents will be advised of the status of an emergency situation via an Internet-based communication tool, ConnectED, which enables the school to individually contact parents. It can send personalized telephone and/or email messages, essentially reaching all families within minutes. During the school year, Punahou will plan to use the system from time to time for non-urgent matters to ensure that telephone numbers are up-to-date and that the entire school community is familiar with its use.

    Parent support during an emergency will greatly assist school efforts. Parents should not immediately come to school until asked to do so. School staff will be focused on caring for students and access to campus may be restricted. The use of cell phones by students during an emergency may also be curtailed to ensure that students are attentive and that service for emergency personnel is not hindered. In the event parents are called to pick up their children from school, several helpful guidelines should apply:

    • In the case of multiple siblings or carpool situations, agree with children that pickup will be at the youngest child’s designated pickup area.
    • Unless an emergency precludes it, Dole Hall will serve as a center for students if they are unable to leave or have not been picked up.
    • Punahou’s Emergency Plan is under ongoing review and will be updated as changes in technology, facilities or capabilities may warrant it.
  • Cyber Security Program

    Punahou has implemented a rigorous cyber security program to provide its students with the safest digital experience possible. This includes a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and other IT professionals on staff who are dedicated to ensuring that Punahou employs state-of-the-art practices related to online security. Some of the practices Punahou has instituted include: education-focused security tools, (such as Securly), on premises firewalls, restricted YouTube access, formal review of all applications and software prior to being used by students, phishing exercises, and more.

    Punahou also proudly complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).
  • Code of Conduct

    Punahou School upholds the fundamental principle that every individual should be treated with dignity, respect and care.

    We affirm that a school should be a place where students learn not only about the world around them, but about themselves — creating a strong social, emotional and ethical foundation that will shape their experiences here and throughout their lives.

    This foundation is based on the core belief that every student should have the opportunity to learn in a safe and caring environment, free from harassment, bullying and unsafe or unethical behavior.

    All members of our community — whether students, parents, guardians, faculty, staff, contractors or volunteers — play a vital role in the development of a healthy learning environment.

  • Mandatory Reporter Notice

    Punahou employees who have a reason to believe that child abuse or neglect has occurred or may occur in the reasonably foreseeable future must report the matter to Child Welfare Service or the Police Department.

    In addition, Punahou employees may report information gained through the Punahou Community Helpline if they believe it is in the interest of the child and the community even if the information does not meet the reporting threshold of Hawaii’s mandatory reporting laws.
  • Punahou Community Helpline

    A third party, 24-hour-a-day hotline for anonymous reporting of sexual misconduct and abuse. 
     
    Confidentiality
    The Punahou Community Helpline is hosted by a third-party provider, EthicsPoint, and provides the opportunity for persons to confidentially report activities that may present physical, emotional or social harm to themselves or to another Punahou School student. Callers can choose to provide their names and contact information or to report anonymously. EthicsPoint will not provide information regarding the caller’s identity to Punahou School without the caller’s consent. Reports of child abuse or neglect, even if made anonymously, may be forwarded to the Child Welfare Service or the Police Department.
  • SATC Resources

    Guides/Tips
    Organizations
    • CyberTipline: An organization that helps find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent child victimization.
    • Love is Respect: is an organization that focuses on what healthy relationships look like and what to do to get out of an unhealthy relationship.
    • National Sexual Violence Resource Center
    • Tap808: supports the youth of Hawai’i in the development of healthy relationships.  Their mission is to tap out teen dating violence through prevention education, advocacy and social change.
    • The Sex Abuse Treatment Center (SATC)
    • Wait Until 8th - is an organization that empowers parents to rally together to delay giving child(ren) a smartphone until at least 8th grade
    Podcasts and Videos
    Tools/Apps
    • American Academy of Pediatrics Family Media Plan: Use this tool to help your family think about media, and create goals/rules that are in line with your family’s values.
    • Bark - is a parental control phone monitoring app to help keep kids safe online. Bark monitors social media, text, and email on Android and iOS devices.
    • Common Sense Media Device Contract: Use the contract as a way to set realistic rules that make sense for your family to make the most out of media and tech time.
    • Culture Reframed - A free program designed for parents of tweens to help guide you through topics that provide skills to build your child’s resilience and resistance to hypersexualized culture and the impacts of pornography.
    • ESRB Game Ratings: Website used to make informed choices about online games children play
    • NetSmartz Family Activity: Watch the Photo Fate video with your child and use the discussion guide as a way to open the door for age-appropriate and respectful conversations about sexting.
    Articles

    If you would like to subscribe to electronic news and information from The Sex Abuse Treatment Center, you are interested in scheduling a Shots training, and/or you are interested in becoming a Shots training facilitator, please contact Inji Kim.

Advisory Council for Student Safety

Ivy Asano ’84, M.D.
PFA President (SY 2022 – 2023); Director of Admissions, Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i.

Llasmin Chaine, LSW
Education and Community Outreach Manager, Sex Abuse Treatment Center, Hawaii Pacific Health

Georgi DeCosta ’93
Survivor advocate, Na Pua o Punahou Founding Member. Former Windward O‘ahu Program Director, Harold K.L. Castle Foundation.
 
Karen Elizaga, J.D. ’88
Survivor advocate, author, executive coach. Former Board Chair of Woman kind, an organization that provides support to survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual assault. Former Trustee, Riverdale Country School in New York.
 
Tiffany Farrell ’91
Child safeguarding liaison. Expertise in developing and monitoring implementation of child safeguarding initiatives as a Vice Chair of the Board of Directors and a Trustee at the American School in Japan.
 
Douglas Kwock, MD ’83
Chief Medical Officer, Pali Momi Medical Center. Hawai‘i Pacific Health leadership and pediatrician with over 20 years of experience. 
 
Kāneali‘i Ng-Osorio
PFA President (SY 2021 – 2022); Kamehameha Schools Portfolio Manager.
 
Cecily Sakai ’02, Psy.D.
Clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety, trauma, relationship difficulties, grief and loss, women’s health and wellness, and identity development concerns.
 
James C. Wo ’06, Ph.D. (JC)
Asst. Prof., Dept. of Sociology and Criminology, University of Iowa
 
Rachael Wong, DrPH ’90
Founder and Strategic Advisor, One Shared Future. Co-founder, Safe Spaces & Workplaces. Former Director of the Department of Human Services, State of Hawai‘i.
 
Vonceil Yara, MA, AMFT, APCC
Registered Associate Marriage Family Therapist and Professional Clinical Counselor. Mental Health Counselor Intern. Focusing on work with children and families.
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