The Change
On Wednesday, April 8th, two schools on Maui were forced to close their doors. Hāna High & Elementary School in East Maui shut down due to heavy rainfall and flooding that rendered access to the campus unsafe. Concurrently, Henry Perrine Baldwin High School in Wailuku experienced a closure stemming from a lack of running water, attributed to issues related to nearby construction. These closures, occurring with little notice, directly impact families and employers on the island.
Who's Affected
Small Business Operators (small-operator): Immediate impact: Employees with children attending Hāna High & Elementary or Henry Perrine Baldwin High School face unexpected childcare needs, potentially leading to unplanned absences, reduced productivity, or the need for immediate alternative arrangements. Businesses relying on this workforce may experience critical staffing shortages for the day, impacting service delivery, customer satisfaction, and operational continuity.
Tourism Operators (tourism-operator): Staffing disruptions for employees with children at these schools can directly affect front-desk operations, housekeeping, food and beverage services, and tour guide availability. Consistent staffing is crucial for maintaining service standards, especially during peak visitor periods. This event highlights a vulnerability in workforce stability that can be exacerbated by external factors.
Healthcare Providers (healthcare): Clinics and private practices that depend on local staff may see unexpected absences. For healthcare providers, even short-term staffing shortages can have significant implications for patient care schedules, appointment availability, and the ability to respond to urgent medical needs. Reliance on staff who are parents means these disruptions can be frequent and unpredictable.
Agriculture & Food Producers (agriculture): While less direct, workforce reliability is key in agriculture for time-sensitive tasks like harvesting and processing. If farm or processing plant workers have children at affected schools, their presence may be compromised, leading to delays that could impact product quality and delivery schedules. This is particularly critical for perishable goods.
Real Estate Owners (real-estate): While not directly impacted by personnel issues, the underlying causes – severe weather and infrastructure fragility – are relevant. Repeated or prolonged disruptions could affect tenant businesses' profitability and ability to pay rent, indirectly impacting property owners. Long-term, the reliability of infrastructure like water supply is a factor in commercial property viability.
Second-Order Effects
The closure of schools due to infrastructure issues like water supply problems highlights the fragility of essential services on Maui. This fragility, when combined with the island's geographic isolation and reliance on a stable workforce, can create cascading impacts. For example, recurring school closures due to weather or infrastructure failures necessitate that parents often arrange alternative childcare or take time off work. This can lead to increased absenteeism for businesses, forcing them to hire more staff or pay overtime to cover gaps, thus increasing operating costs. Higher operating costs can, in turn, lead businesses to raise prices for goods and services. This contributes to inflation, which disproportionately affects lower-wage workers who are often the most reliant on public school systems and most likely to experience these workforce disruptions. Furthermore, a pattern of unreliability in public services can deter new businesses and skilled workers from relocating to the island, further constraining economic growth and diversification.
What to Do
Small Business Operators (small-operator): Act Now - Today, April 8th, assess staffing levels and communicate proactively with employees who may be affected. Identify essential roles and prepare contingency plans for those positions, such as cross-training staff or having on-call personnel. Over the next 7 days, review your employee handbook for policies on emergency leave and flexible work arrangements, and communicate these clearly. Consider developing a formal remote work policy or backup childcare support options for future similar events. This proactive approach can mitigate immediate disruptions and build resilience for future occurrences.
Tourism Operators (tourism-operator): Act Now - Immediately identify staff members experiencing childcare disruptions today and work with them to find suitable coverage. This might involve offering flexible scheduling, allowing staff to bring children to work if feasible and safe, or reassigning tasks. Within the next week, conduct a risk assessment of potential workforce impacts from school closures or severe weather events on key operational periods. Update staffing contingency plans to include specific protocols for such emergencies, ensuring minimal impact on guest services.
Healthcare Providers (healthcare): Act Now - Confirm immediate staffing coverage for critical patient care roles and adjust appointment schedules as necessary given today's potential absences. Reach out to employees affected by school closures to offer support and flexibility where possible, ensuring patient care continuity remains the priority. Within the next 30 days, evaluate existing emergency staffing plans to ensure they account for predictable disruptions like school closures due to weather or infrastructure problems. Explore options for on-call staff or partnerships with other facilities for temporary staffing support during emergencies.
Agriculture & Food Producers (agriculture): Watch - Monitor team attendance today and assess any immediate impact on critical operations like harvesting, packing, or distribution. Communicate with your workforce to understand potential impacts and find immediate solutions for coverage if necessary. Over the next 30 days, review your operational schedules and risk mitigation strategies related to workforce availability during weather events or infrastructure outages. Consider identifying critical tasks that can be temporarily postponed or reassigned without significant loss, and explore flexible work options for essential personnel where feasible.
Real Estate Owners (real-estate): Watch - While today's event does not require immediate landlord action, monitor tenant businesses that may have been affected by staffing shortages. For properties where infrastructure reliability (like water supply) is a concern, engage with property management to assess the condition of systems and planned maintenance schedules. Over the next 90 days, review lease agreements for clauses pertaining to business interruption or force majeure events related to infrastructure failures. Consider this event as a reminder to prioritize investments in robust property infrastructure and explore resilience measures for managed properties.
