MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2025
MEDIA CONTACTS
Emily Hills, Senior Staff Attorney (808) 380-2671
ACLU of Hawai'i Demands Maui Preparatory Academy Stop Discrimination Against Transgender Students
HONOLULU, HI – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi (“ACLU of Hawai‘i”) sent Maui Preparatory Academy (“Maui Prep”) a letter demanding that the school rescind a discriminatory policy that targets transgender students and end retaliation against faculty and staff who oppose it.
According to the letter, Maui Prep’s new policy requires transgender students to conform to sex assigned at birth, instead of gender. The policy requires transgender students to use facilities (e.g., bathrooms, locker rooms) of the opposite gender, prohibits transgender students (including those in elementary and middle school) from playing sports with other children of their gender, and requires transgender students to room with the opposite gender during school trips.
The ACLU of Hawaiʻi argues the policy violates HRS § 368D-1, which prohibits gender identity discrimination by schools receiving state funding. The ACLU of Hawaiʻi investigation revealed that Maui Prep receives funds from both the Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services and Department of Education.
The ACLU of Hawaiʻi letter states the policy appears to be aimed directly at the school’s only openly transgender student, a nine-year-old girl in third grade referred to in the letter as “Jane.” Jane has attended Maui Prep since preschool and has lived openly as a girl since age five, with support from her family and school staff. The new policy would require staff to misgender her and treat her as a boy in school settings, including restrooms, sports, and overnight trips.
Jane’s parents, speaking anonymously out of fear of retaliation, said: “Our daughter has been a student at Maui Prep since preschool. Now our family faces an impossible choice: remain at the only school our daughter has ever known or protect her from a policy that threatens her safety and identity, even if that means separating her from
her two best friends. We never asked for special treatment—only for our child to continue living as herself, surrounded by the love and acceptance she has always received from her peers and amazing teachers. Until now, we felt incredibly fortunate to be part of the Maui Prep ‘ohana. That is why the decision by the board and administration to move forward with a policy that would force our child to be outed, risk isolation, and potentially lose this supportive environment is so deeply painful.”
The letter alleges the policy was motivated by discriminatory views held by board president Tim Hehemann, who reportedly called transgender students the result of “bad parenting,” likened them to students “with repeated disciplinary violations” and “violent psychological issues,” and equated being transgender to misconduct like vaping. Board chairman Jim Bozich and other board members allegedly supported this stance. Dissenting board members have since resigned or were forced out.
The ACLU of Hawai‘i also alleges that Maui Prep initially tried to keep the policy secret and unwritten. According to the letter, the head of school, Dr. Miguel Solis, proposed that if Jane’s family could be convinced to disenroll voluntarily, the policy would not need to be disclosed to the rest of the Maui Prep community. He and other administrators met with Jane’s parents on November 19, 2024. But when news of the policy leaked in early December, faculty, staff, and families were extremely upset.
According to the letter, the school has also retaliated against faculty and staff who spoke out against the policy. The ACLU of Hawaiʻi alleges that this retaliation separately violates state anti-discrimination law.
The ACLU of Hawai‘i letter demands that Maui Prep rescind the policy, cease all retaliation against community members who have spoken out, and publicly commit to a policy of non-discrimination.
ACLU of Hawaiʻi Senior Staff Attorney, Emily Hills, said: “Maui Prep’s decision to target an elementary school student with a policy that singles her out based on her gender identity is a flagrant violation of Hawaiʻi anti-discrimination law. The law is clear: schools that receive public funding cannot discriminate based on gender identity. We are demanding that Maui Prep rescind this harmful policy, stop retaliating against those who stood up for what’s right, and recommit to creating a safe, inclusive learning environment for every student.”
ACLU of Hawaiʻi Legal Director, Wookie Kim, said: “Maui Prep’s policy is a dangerous step backward—not just for one child, but for our entire community. In a time when transgender youth are being attacked across the country, we must stand firm in defending the rights of all students to live with dignity and free of discrimination. The policy violates state anti-discrimination law and undermines the values of respect, inclusion, and harmony that make Hawaiʻi special. Maui Prep can continue down this path of exclusion and harm, or it can choose to do better—for Jane, and for others.”
The demand letter is available here: https://www.acluhi.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/04-09-25_maui_prep_demand_letter.pdf
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The mission of the ACLU of Hawaiʻi is to protect the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the U.S. and Hawaiʻi constitutions. The ACLU of Hawaiʻi fulfills this through legislative, litigation, and public education programs statewide. The ACLU of Hawaiʻi is a non-partisan and private non-profit organization that provides its services at no cost to the public and does not accept government funds. The ACLU of Hawaiʻi has been serving Hawaiʻi for over 50 years.