Hawaii school cleans, but ash still coats desks, floors

HONOLULU (AP) — Aina Akamu gave final exams to his students as they sat on bleachers or the floor of the basketball court in the gym in his small town on Hawaii's Big Island.

He moved his class to the community of Pahala's gym nearby after he and his students could no longer stand the volcanic ash covering his classroom floor, chairs and desks.

"I decided today I'm not going back to my classroom for the rest of the year," he said Wednesday, a brief relocation before school ends next week.

Kau High and Pahala Elementary School is inundated with gritty, gray ash that has been spewing out of a volcano some 20 miles (32 kilometers) away.