For schools, a flurry of last-minute registrations can create problems ranging from a shortage of school books and supplies to crowding.

"It happens every year," said Sophia Davis, principal at Fern Elementary.

This year, Davis' school lost a teaching position because so many parents held off on registering until the week before school started. Instead of having two kindergarten classes, 28 students were put into one classroom. Some part-time teachers come in to help out, but they can't be there all the time.

"It would be more beneficial to open up another class," Davis said.

Based on Department of Education projections, the school expects to open with three kindergarten classes next year, with 50 to 70 students, but only 27 students have registered so far.

"That's enough for one class," Davis said.

Lori Furoyama, a senior project facilitator at the UH Center on the Family, said registering now gives parents the whole summer to prepare their children emotionally for their first day of school.

"It's a big transition from home or preschool to kindergarten," Furoyama said. "By registering early, it's a gradual thing."

Schools often mail activities home during the summer or plan orientations for entering kindergartners so that the first day is not so traumatic.

Kalihi-Waena Elementary is offering a two-week Jump Start class right before school starts to teach entering students necessary basic skills.

Many of the school's kindergartners have never been in a school setting, so "they don't know how to sit, they don't know how to hold a pencil, how to cut, how to color, all the basic things they normally learn in preschool," said Jeanette Uyeda, principal at Kalihi-Waena Elementary.

At Ka'ewai Elementary, principal Dale Spaulding said last-minute registrations interfere with planning.

"Since we don't know what our enrollment is going to be, we don't know how many teachers we're going to get," Spaulding said.

If few children register early, the school may lose teaching positions, leading to overcrowded classrooms while schools scramble to replace staff.

In the fall, it's much harder to find qualified teachers, Spaulding said.

"The pickings are much slimmer in the fall. Most teachers have already been picked up in the spring."

It is also harder to find money to buy books and plan meals at that late date, Spaulding said.

Furoyama pointed out that waiting until the last minute often does not give parents enough time to make sure they have all their children's paperwork and immunizations in order.

"A lot of times, the children don't have the shots they need," Furoyama said. "The children lose another week of school because parents are trying to get all the clearances they need."