Hale Kula Elementary School has been undergoing major renovations in the last three years, thanks in large part to $26.6 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense.

Now the school will be getting a new name, in honor of the man who helped make that DOD funding available for schools on military installations.

Hale Kula Elementary School will henceforth be known as the Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School, the state Board of Education decided unanimously Tuesday.

The name change is effective immediately.

According to the Department of Education, the late senator helped establish funding for the Public Schools on Military Installations Priority Program through his role as chair of the U.S. Senate Defense Appropriations Committee.

The school is located on the Schofield Barracks Army Installation, the home base for the late senator’s combat unit during World War II.

Lawmakers introduced a resolution this session asking the state Department of Transportation to rename the Honolulu International Airport in honor of Inouye.

The school will have to change its signs, but it may not have to change its school song, “Hale Kula No Ka `Oi.” Hale kula” simply means “school building” in Hawaiian.

Inouye died in 2012 of respiratory complications. He was 88.

The Board of Education voted on Tuesday to rename an Oahu elementary school after the late Sen. Dan Inouye.

drienne LaFrance/Civil Beat