Meeting Notes: Administration and Academic Review for Kiara Cam

Walter, who goes by the name Wally, became the permanent president of Damien starting at the end of February. Prior to this permanent appointment, he served as the interim president for two years.
Wally is a $1979$ graduate of Damien and served on the school's board for five years before transitioning into the president's role to support the school following the departure of the previous president.
Wally’s professional background is in business, specifically in revamping companies and restructuring internal processes.
Tasha is a member of the current team at Damien, brought on by Wally due to their long history of working together at another company. Wally describes Tasha as the "grounding person" on the team.
Kiara Cam is a student at Damien currently entering her senior year. Her parents are Patricia and Bart Cam.

Bart Cam works as a supervisor on the commercial side of Spectrum.
Bart works with Richard Ayalla, who is the cousin of Wally’s wife.
Bart is related to Benjie, a long-time friend of Wally’s. Their friendship dates back many years to a group from Kaneohe that attended Damien.
Uncle Ben, Bart’s father, passed away in February. He was a prominent figure in the local baseball and softball community.
Claudia, Bart’s mother, passed away approximately two years before Uncle Ben. She played on a softball team with Wally’s wife.
The families historically spent time together at Kaneohe Rec Park playing softball.

Patricia describes her experience with the Damien administration prior to meeting Wally as negative and unwelcoming.
During Kiara's freshman year, world and school turmoil began, leading to a sense of instability.
At a National Honor Society induction during Kiara's freshman year, Patricia attempted to introduce herself to the principal at the time, Dr. Higa. Dr. Higa reportedly performed an "about-face" and walked away from Patricia, leading Patricia to have to physically position herself in front of the principal to initiate an introduction.
During Kiara’s freshman year, a conflict arose regarding a form for a summer geometry class in Mililani. Despite the form being straightforward, Ms. Dixon and Paishan required a $20$ -minute meeting with Kiara after school before Ms. Dixon agreed to sign it.
Over the summer of Kiara's junior year, the counselor (Emma Kaina) reportedly refused to provide Patricia with an unofficial copy of Kiara's transcript, despite the school handbook stating parents should have access.
Patricia highlights a lack of communication from Emma Kaina, who would send emails offering help during the summer but then fail to respond to direct inquiries.

Conflicts arose regarding how summer course credits were applied to Kiara's record. The form specified the course was for "credit only," yet the grade was initially entered into the GPA calculations.
In the first semester of Kiara’s sophomore year, Paishan admitted to a mistake in report cards for the entire high school.
The school transitioned from a year-long grading system to a semester-long grading system, which caused confusion in the cumulative GPA calculations.
Paishan allegedly informed Patricia that first-year grades were added into the calculation again, which Patricia argued was mathematically incorrect as a method for correcting the cumulative GPA.
At the end of sophomore year, Kiara was informed by a counselor that her rank was rank $2$ .
Emma Kaina eventually printed physical transcripts for every student; these copies contained the correct cumulative GPA calculations that matched Patricia’s personal records.
For Kiara’s senior year, Daisy Howlett has been assigned as the counselor. Patricia describes Daisy as excellent with a personality well-suited for the position.

The school has implemented a new email policy as of last Friday. All managers, including the president, are required to respond to emails within $24$ hours of a business day. Emails received on a weekend must be addressed by Monday.
The school changed the method for distributing student schedules. Instead of printing and emailing them, schedules are now posted directly on Schoology for students to access.
Wally has encouraged Patricia to contact him directly if future issues are not resolved by the academic committees, which include Dr. Higa, Ms. Paishan, and the counseling department.
Wally’s focus as the permanent president is to "dig into the weeds" to improve the school's processes, policies, and procedures.

Question regarding transcript needs: Wally asked if Patricia would still need assistance from Emma Kaina for college applications. Patricia clarified that Daisy Howlett is the current counselor and that Emma Kaina had already provided the necessary documents.
Question regarding school events: Patricia asked about the date for the upcoming open house. Wally noted that the date would be listed in the recent newsletter or on the school calendar, as he did not have the specific date on hand during the meeting.
Closure: Wally invited the Cam family to introduce themselves in person during the school's open house and expressed a desire to ensure Kiara has a high-quality senior year experience.