School enrollment hits five-year low

By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

Enrollment in Hawai'i's schools dropped slightly this year, to 182,798 students — the lowest in five years — according to figures released yesterday by the Department of Education.

The drop in students continues a trend of decreasing enrollments since the late 1990s. Last year, the state saw an increase of 109 students, but otherwise enrollment has been dropping.

Public school enrollment peaked at 189,281 in 1997-98.

The state did see public school growth in a few areas: in special education and charter schools and on the Leeward Coast.

Special-education enrollment continued to grow by 2.4 percent to 20,808. Special-education students now make up 11.4 percent of the total school enrollment, an average on par with the rest of the nation. Ten years ago, the special-education enrollment was just 11,356 and represented 6.4 percent of all students.

Driven by a federal court order to better identify and treat children with mental disabilities, the state has seen a rise in special-education enrollment since 1994.

Enrollment in the state's charter schools increased this year to 3,350 students on 25 charter campuses. Last year there were 3,066 students in 22 public charter schools.

While many of the students attending charters have transferred from existing public schools, experts say they have attracted some students who had dropped out or who were being home-schooled. Charter schools are public schools that are freed from many of the rules and regulations to allow them to experiment with their own curriculum.

The Leeward District, the state's largest administrative unit, grew by 1.53 percent to 38,250 students, 578 more than last year. All other districts declined in enrollment.

The DOE is projecting continued growth in the Leeward area and central plain over the next several years as more young families move out of urban Honolulu and into newer neighborhoods, according to Al Suga, assistant superintendent of administrative services.

Farrington High School remained the state's largest, with 2,421 students. The next largest high schools are Waipahu with 2,373 students, Mililani with 2,141, Pearl City with 2,035 and Moanalua with 2,022.

Waipahu's 714 ninth-graders make up the largest high school class.

The largest middle school was Mililani Middle with 1,904 students in Grades 6 through 8, and the largest intermediate school was Waipahu Intermediate with 1,307 students in the seventh and eighth grades.

The 612 seventh-graders at Waipahu Intermediate make up the largest intermediate school class.

Holomua Elementary was the state's largest elementary school with 1,277 in kindergarten through the sixth grade. August Ahrens had 1,233 students and Mililani Mauka had 1,223.

The largest elementary school class totals 212 students at both Kapolei in fifth grade and Mililani Mauka in first grade.

The smallest school in the state, Maui's Ke'anae Elementary, doubled its enrollment to six students in kindergarten through Grade 3.

Hawaii's public school system is among the largest in the nation, with 283 schools. The system includes 255 regular, three special, and 25 charter schools.

While Hawai'i's public school enrollment has declined, private school enrollment has remained steady for the past 15 years. About one in six Hawai'i students in kindergarten through Grade 12 is enrolled in private school — a rate higher than for the nation as a whole, according to Census Bureau statistics released this week.

Although enrollment fluctuated from the 1990 to 2000 census, the ratio of public to private school students in Hawai'i remained constant, at about 84 percent to 16 percent. Nationally, about 11 percent of schoolchildren attend private school.

Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.