Kaaawa Elementary School could become the first victim of a state Department of Education plan to close campuses in light of declining enrollment and rising expenses in Hawaii's public education system.

Education officials have recommended shutting down the small Windward Oahu school, citing high costs to upgrade facilities and the need to close a cesspool and mitigate hazards such as flooding.

The Education Department says it would take some $5 million to replace the cesspool with a septic tank to comply with an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Aside from funding concerns, schools Assistant Superintendent Randy Moore said the project would cause flooding in neighboring properties.

“;We have concluded that it does not appear to us that this is a reasonable investment,”; he said, noting it would cost less to simply discontinue use of the cesspool and fill it up.

The school also is near a blind curve on busy Kamehameha Highway and in a tsunami inundation zone that requires classrooms and administrative offices be elevated 8 feet, Superintendent Pat Hamamoto wrote Dec. 10 in a memo to Lea Albert, superintendent for the Castle-Kahuku complex, to explain the department's position.

The announcement came less than a month after the Education Department released a list of dozens of schools from Kauai to the Big Island that could be closed or merged. The decision to examine shutting down public schools comes as statewide enrollment sank to 177,871 from a peak of more than 189,000 a decade ago.

Closing a single school could lead to savings of more than $500,000 a year in electricity, staff and maintenance at a time when the $2.4 billion schools budget faces potential cuts of $70 million because of the poor economy, officials have said.

Kaaawa Elementary, with 158 students—three short of capacity—opened in 1904 on 3.7 acres donated by Kualoa Ranch. Education Department officials say those students could possibly move to nearby Hauula or Waiahole elementary schools, which have extra room and are less than seven miles from Kaaawa. It is unclear what would happen to the land at Kaaawa Elementary.

To comply with state law, Albert is forming a task force to study the closure, which would still need to be debated in public hearings.

But Brian Walsh, chairman of the Kaaawa Elementary School Community Council, said he is concerned the proposed closure is a done deal. He noted Hamamoto ends her memo to Albert by simply directing the task force to recommend where and when Kaaawa students should be relocated.

“;It is clear in that record that there is no room for keeping the school open,”; he said. “;All the parents that I have spoken to so far are very upset.”;

Walsh said several parents have chosen to send their children to Kaaawa because of its academic record. The school is on track for the No Child Left Behind law's goal of having every student proficient in reading and math by 2014. Hauula and Waiahole, on the other hand, have struggled to meet annual progress benchmarks under the federal mandate, and Waiahole is being restructured, the law's stiffest sanction.

The Kaaawa Community Association is planning to invite education officials to a meeting in mid-January to discuss the issue, Walsh said. Kaaawa Elementary Principal Todd Watanabe could not be reached for comment.

Albert said she would create a group as diverse as possible, with representatives from Kaaawa, Hauula and Waiahole, as well as people not attached to the schools, to hopefully make a decision in the best interest of students.

“;My overwhelming concern is to be sensitive to everyone's feelings,”; she said, adding the process will be challenging and a learning experience. “;Children always, always have to come first.”;