School shift angers some in Makakilo
By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau
KALAELOA — The enrollment at Barbers Point Elementary School jumped by nearly 100 students this year after the state Department of Education revised its school boundaries in a section of Makakilo to reduce crowded conditions at Mauka Lani Elementary.
Kyle Sackowski • The Honolulu Advertiser
Ironically, some of the Barbers Point students now sit in classrooms even more crowded than they did before the change.
Barbers Point Elementary students Joyce Isleta, 8, and Erik Irgens, 9, work on problem solving in their fourth-grade class.
According to Barbers Point principal Claudia Nakachi, the school's enrollment jumped from about 220 last year to 315 this year. The staff also increased from nine to 12 full-time regular education teachers and three new classes were added.
But the number of students in some classes are more than the recommended limits set by the state, Nakachi admitted, especially for the second grade.
Leeward District Deputy Superintendent Karen Moriyama said the standard size for kindergarten through second grade is 20 students to one teacher and the ratio is 27 to one for grades three to six.
Melissa Alsbergas lives in the Westhills area of Makakilo and her son, who is in the second grade, attended Mauka Lani until being moved to Barbers Point. Alsbergas said there are 28 students in her son's class.
"We feel that we have been mislead or even outright lied to," Alsbergas said. "We were told we were moving to Barbers Point because Mauka Lani is over crowded. Now they have put my son in a crowded classroom. That is not right."
Nakachi said the kindergarten and first grade has an average 23 students per class at Barbers Point. The second grade, has two classes with a total of 54 students.
"We have some classes we are looking at because the enrollment may be high," Nakachi said. "Small numbers in and of itself mean nothing. We are looking at adding another teacher and opening another classroom for a second grade class."
With crowding at both Mauka Lani and Makakilo elementary schools, the DOE implemented a redistricting plan to take students from those schools and bus them to Barbers Point. The state is providing free bus service to those students until they finish elementary school.
Barbers Point Elementary has a spacious campus and a good reputation, but enrollment has dropped significantly since the Navy base there closed in 1999 and many military families moved away.
In January, Leeward District Superintendent Hazel Sumile announced the redistricting plan, saying that students who already ride buses to Mauka Lani would change schools this year, and students from Honokai Hale who attend Makakilo Elementary will move to Barbers Point Elementary next year. About 220 students will be affected.
Many parents have opposed the plan, saying other alternatives should have been more closely looked into before busing students six miles from home. Appeals to the Board of Education and the DOE and an attempt to stall the plan in the Legislature all failed.
Mauka Lani Principal Diane Iwaoka said her enrollment dropped this year by only 18 students, from 688 last year to 670 this year. She said some fifth-grade students remained at the school because they were were "grandfathered" in along with any younger siblings. She expects the reduction to continue next year.
Iwaoka said Mauka Lani has the same number of classes and teachers as last year and the class sizes are within the DOE's guidelines.
"It has helped because had we not done the redistricting then we would have no space for three or four classes," Iwaoka said.
Alsbergas said if another second-grade class is added to Barbers Point reducing the ratio to about 18 to 1, she will be satisfied. If not, she is considering moving her son to another school.
"Twenty to one really is a nice number and 28 is way over being any way reasonable," Alsbergas said. "To me that is warehousing. That is not providing an education. I am concerned my son will be bored with that kind of enrollment and not be challenged."
Sumile said overall the redistricting plan is working well.
"The problems haven't really been totally solved yet," Sumile said. "We know that we are on the right track but have more to do. Barbers Point school is an excellent school. It is just a matter of the kids and the parents getting use to it."
Correction: The photo is of students in a fourth-grade class with 25 students. A previous version of the caption gave incorrect information.
