Only a handful of Hawai'is 255 regular public schools would be able to do something as dramatic as add a teacher to their staffs under a curtailed new funding formula now under consideration by the Board of Education.

The board is expected to once again consider — and potentially vote on — the "weighted student formula" at its public meeting tomorrow in Ma'ili.

The goal of the formula — mandated by the Legislature's Reinventing Education Act — is to distribute money more equitably among schools, with extra money targeted at students who need extra help, such as those who are poor, learning English as a second language or have special needs.

But the formula would take money from some schools while giving to others, with some schools losing hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time it is fully phased in over four years.

To soften the impact, the BOE is considering limiting gains or losses to 10 percent the first year, 15 percent the second, 25 percent the third and 50 percent the fourth. That compares with the original DOE proposal of 25 percent — up or down — in each of the four years.

But numbers supplied by the Department of Education yesterday showed that under the board's cut-back proposal, only eight schools would gain enough money to be able to hire one new teacher — or at the most two.

"This looks more palatable to me," said board member Karen Knudsen, who heads the board's Committee on Budget and Fiscal Accountability, in assessing the DOE numbers.

But Knudsen also said the board is "not finished" looking at the weighted student formula and suggested that it ought to consider contracting out for an outside party to look at the formula and its workability.

Board members have been concerned that schools would have difficulty living with radical changes, especially the first year. Under law they must revisit the formula annually and make adjustments.

Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said she is also going to have an outside consultant give the department feedback on the numbers so they support "school viability."

While department administrators say they will work with whatever the board provides, the figures indicate that a 10 percent change in the first year would make little difference in the state's biggest schools most in need of additional resources.

Only six high schools —Waipahu, Farrington, Kapolei, Leilehua, Mililani and Campbell — would gain enough money to hire teachers. Only one middle school, Mililani, and one combination school, Kahuku, also would gain enough to hire teachers.

Waipahu and Farrington would be able to afford two additional teachers, with a few dollars left over, while the other six schools could pay for one, with more money left over.

According to Randy Moore, DOE program manager for Act 51, the Reinventing Education Act, the cost in salary and benefits to hire a teacher is about $67,000.

Under the act passed by the 2004 Legislature, leaders wanted to give schools more flexibility in how they spend their money by "lump sum" budgeting and money targeted to student need.

According to the DOE's latest figures in evaluating a 10 percent gain or loss for schools the first year, the percentage of change in relationship to their current budget would be minimal for most.

For instance, Kaimuki High School would stand to lose $29,484 next year if a 10 percent formula is approved. That's a loss of just 0.5 percent from its current budget allocation of $6.15 million.

By comparison, one of the biggest losses next year — $98,475 — would be at Hana High and Elementary School on Maui. That amounts to 3.1 percent less than its current budget allocation of $3.1 million.

WHO WOULD LOSE, WHO WOULD GAIN

The Board of Education wants to limit to 10 percent the monetary gains or losses that schools would experience in the first year of a new formula intended to make funding more equitable and target money to the students who need it most. Systemwide, a total of $3.3 million would move from one group of schools to another in the first year. Here's what that would mean in dollars to schools that would see the biggest losses or gains:

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.