Kamehameha Schools' enrollment, revenue up
Advertiser Staff
Kamehameha Schools increased educational opportunities for children of Native Hawaiian descent in fiscal year 2004 and ended the period with a record $6.2 billion in assets, according to an annual statement.
The charitable trust, formerly known as the Bishop Estate, reported an increase in net assets of roughly $543 million for the year ended June 30, 2004, thanks to improved investment returns and a strong real estate market.
Enrollment in Kamehameha Schools programs reached a record high, the trust said. Preschool enrollment increased from 1,283 students to 1,397, and K-12 enrollment rose from 4,426 students to 4,854.
KS operates private schools on O'ahu, Maui and the Big Island, and more than 30 preschool sites. An outreach program assists public-school students, and KS helps support 12 community-based charter schools.
The trust reported spending $221 million on educational programs in fiscal 2004, up $1 million from the previous year.
Kamehameha Schools began in 1887 with a land-based endowment included in the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.
"We made substantial progress in fiscal year 2004 in fulfilling Pauahi's vision to create educational opportunities to improve the capability and well-being of Hawaiians," said Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Officer Dee Jay Mailer. "We remain 'onipa'a (steadfast) in our commitment to help more Hawaiian children and their families achieve their educational goals and strengthening the endowment that is the legacy of our princess."
The trust is in the fifth year of a 15-year strategic plan to extend opportunities to more Hawaiians.
KS reported total revenues of $838.7 million and expenses of $296.2 million.
Revenue from the trust's endowment increased by $295 million, netting a record 15.4 percent total return that KS officials said offset market dips in the previous two years.
Nearly all of the trust's original assets were in real estate. Today, 31 percent of assets are in real estate and 69 percent are in financial assets, the trust said.
The trust owns more than 365,000 acres of Hawai'i real estate, and remains the state's largest private landowner.
