Public schools’
enrollment stable,
shows slight rise

Charter schools seem to be
a main source of
new students

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By Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com

After three years of declining enrollment, the number of students attending Hawaii public schools is leveling off and headed up slightly.

Official enrollment figures released yesterday show the public school student population for the current school year at 183,629 compared with last year's enrollment count of 183,520, an increase of 109 students.

This year's official count was even higher than the department's projection of 183,012.

"It's a stable population," said Keith Kameoka of the state Department of Education's statistical research and analysis section.

Enrollment is a key figure used by the department to determine how much money and how many teachers a school receives.

One reason for the enrollment stability is that more students entered the public school system this year than exited, Kameoka said.

The primary source of those new students appears to be charter schools, which are public schools that are exempt from many laws and regulations.

There are 22 charter schools operating this school year with an enrollment of 3,066. The number of charter schools has gone up from two a couple of years ago. Three more charter schools are slated to start next school year.

Kameoka said that while the charter school population includes students who had previously attended other public schools, these schools also brought students to the public schools who had previously attended private schools or who were home-schooled.

For example, when the University of Hawaii Laboratory School -- which previously was not part of the DOE system -- converted into a charter school, it brought 359 more students into the public school system.

Kameoka said he expects enrollment to remain stable next school year.

The figures also show student population growth continuing, although slightly, in Leeward Oahu, with 520 more students than last year.

Central Oahu saw a 244-student increase from last year. The increase appears to be military-related, with growth at a handful of schools in and around Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base.

Other Oahu school districts and all neighbor-island school districts saw declines.

The enrollment count also showed a slight increase in special-education students to 20,320 this year from 20,057 last year.