As enrollment continues to climb at the two high schools serving Ewa Beach and Kapolei in West Oahu, the Department of Education says its immediate priority is to expand existing facilities over building a new campus to relieve crowding.

Enrollment at Campbell High School in Ewa Beach — the state’s largest high school — is expected to increase by 90 to 100 students a year over the next five years, pushing enrollment to 3,545 by 2020, according to a consultant’s report prepared for the DOE. Kapolei High School, meanwhile, is expected to grow by more than 300 students over the next five years to 2,373 students.

While DOE officials have started planning for a new high school in East Kapolei — identifying four potential sites — officials say acquiring any land is still several years out. And the undeveloped parcels come with various challenges, including ownership issues and a lack of utilities infrastructure.

The sites include a privately owned parcel on Fort Weaver Road, which the owner is not interested in selling; a parcel in Kalaeloa, which is federally owned and is expected to require “extensive soil remediation”; a parcel on excess land surrounding the University of Hawaii-West Oahu campus; and land owned by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources overlooking the H-1 freeway, which has a ravine that cuts through the site.

(A high school built on one of those sites would add to a 45-acre site designated for a new high school within D.R. Horton’s 11,750-home master-planned community, Ho‘opili, which is bordered by Kapolei, Ewa and Waipahu. That future school is expected to be designed for 1,600 students.)

Dann Carlson, assistant superintendent for school facilities, told the Board of Education on Tuesday that, in the meantime, the department is focused on adding classroom buildings at Campbell and Kapolei high schools. The DOE also is considering using a future middle school planned for the area as a temporary high school site.

“Considering the challenges of each site and the current level of funding for new schools, the DOE has recently developed a near-term plan that we believe will work to mitigate a continued increase in student enrollment in this area until the new high school can be built,” Carlson said.

The DOE envisions the future school being a “mega high school” that would serve 3,200 students, he said.

Campbell High, initially built for 1,700 students, enrolled 3,049 students this school year. Over the winter break, eight portable buildings with 15 classrooms were installed to help with crowding. The DOE this past legislative session requested $35 million to build a multistory classroom building at Campbell to add 30 more classrooms.

Lawmakers included $12 million for the project in the state budget, which has been sent to Gov. David Ige for approval.

“If we had received full funding, we probably could get to construction within a year,” he said, adding that the reduced funding will set back the project about a year.

The department next session will seek the rest of the money for the Campbell High building as well as funds for a similar project to add 15 to 25 classrooms at Kapolei High.

“Those two combined projects will provide capacity for an additional 700 students and will allow us to focus on the best solution for a new high school for East Kapolei,” Carlson said.

The mega high school concept and the temporary site at a middle school concerned some Board of Education members.

“When you start talking about over 3,000 kids in one high school, that’s really a frightening thought to me,” said BOE member Maggie Cox, a retired teacher and principal on Kauai. “Three thousand kids is really hard when we’re all talking about looking at the needs of kids. … I just shudder because to me it’s not in the best interest of individual kids to have such large high schools.”

Brian De Lima, the BOE’s vice chairman, recalled having more than 800 students in his class at Hilo High, before Waiakea and Keaau high schools were built to also serve the Hilo area.

“For someone who loves sports but could not play basketball because only 15 players would be playing, your high school experience in a mega school, you’re not getting the full experience as you would if you’re in a regular high school,” De Lima said.

He also objected to the idea of using a future East Kapolei middle school campus, planned for near the Kroc Center on Kualakai Parkway, as a temporary high school campus.

“This idea of an intermediate school as a holdover for a temporary high school — horrible idea. Worst idea I’ve heard so far,” De Lima said, “because you’re not giving the students in that school a high school experience. … I think you guys got to go back to the drawing board.”

BOE member Jim Williams took issue with the identified future high school sites, arguing that none is in an ideal location to accommodate the population growth in Ewa Beach.

“I mean, it’s great if you have a developer that’ll give you a place for a high school, but it’s in the wrong place, in my opinion,” Williams said. “Your problem isn’t Kapolei. Your problem is Ewa Beach. It’s Campbell.”