Disasters can cause school closures for an extended duration, causing equity and engagement gaps for students. Children and adolescents also suffer social, emotional and health problems associated with remote schooling and lack of physical and interpersonal activities. School leaders and teachers are well-practiced in traditional emergency procedures, from fire drills to safety lockdowns. But research shows schools can improve disaster readiness, and leaders can foster preparation by utilizing the principles of goal setting theory. The COVID-19 pandemic and other significant natural disasters, which were not anticipated in many schools' emergency plans, impacted campuses with extensive closures due to health risks or substantial damage. This study explored Hawaii-specific aspects of school equity and engagement problems wrought by disasters, with research centered on how leaders approached the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. After research was complete for this project, and during analysis and writing of the final chapters, the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century destroyed most of the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii. At least 115 were killed, hundreds more missing as of the publication of this dissertation. More than 3,500 students were displaced. The final chapter acknowledged this disaster in relation to topics in this study and incorporated the catastrophe in its recommendations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]