Building blocks

The state plans to build a new elementary school in Kapolei and expand a school in Ewa to keep pace with demand as young families continue to move into new homes sprouting on the West Oahu plain.

Such is the region’s student population boom that more than a third of the $134.7 million in school construction money released June 20 by Gov. Neil Abercrombie is for those two projects.

"I’m ecstatic the governor released this money because I think it’s an acknowledgement of our ever-growing population," said state Rep. Sharon Har (D, Kapolei-Makakilo). "We need to keep up with the investments in infrastructure."

Kapolei’s 96707 ZIP code saw a 55 percent increase in population between the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census counts, to 38,817 residents. Ewa Beach’s 96706 ZIP code was home to 62,730 residents in 2010, up 43 percent from 2000.

Jack Legal, first vice chairman of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, has witnessed the region’s growth.

"I moved here in 1995 and we only had one shopping center, Malama Market," he said. "In the span of 18 years, we have Safeway, Longs Drugs, Costco."

This is just the latest effort to increase school capacity in the region. Ewa-Makai Middle School was built in 2010, taking in 750 students from the overcrowded Ilima Intermediate.

Meanwhile, Campbell High and Kapolei High are the largest and fifth-largest high schools in the state, with 2,821 and 2,045 students, respectively.

Har said some parents in her district are frustrated that they have to bus their children into Ewa to attend elementary and middle schools because the existing schools in Makakilo and Kapolei are full.

"It really does become a quality-of-life issue for these parents," she said.

The biggest project on the construction list is a $40 million Kapolei II Elementary School, to be built on a 12-acre site along Fort Barrette Road, just west of Kapolei High School. It is projected to be open for the 2015-16 school year and have a capacity of about 750 students.

The school will be near the 1,000-home Mehana subdivision being built by D.R. Horton-Schuler. The project is about halfway completed and full build-out is anticipated for late 2015, said Mary Flood, D.R. Horton vice president of sales and marketing.

D.R. Horton donated the land for the school, Flood said.

"Mehana subdivision was the catalyst for the new school," said Heidi Armstrong, the Department of Education’s superintendent for the Campbell-Kapolei school complex.

The geographic boundaries for Kapolei II’s student population have not been drawn yet, Armstrong said. It will be on a traditional 10-month school calendar, unlike some year-round schools in the area.

Thesecond-biggest item on the school construction list is a new $9.6 million building at Ewa Elementary School. The building will have seven classrooms, a computer lab, faculty center, restrooms and utility/mechanical spaces. No date has been set for the start of construction, said Raymond L’Heureux, assistant superintendent for school facilities and support services.

Officials say Kapolei Elementary and Ewa Elementary have been at capacity for several years, and that the schools have taken in about 100 additional students each since 2010-11. Kapolei Elementary enrolled 1,136 students this past school year, while Ewa Elementary had 1,109 students.

The other three elementary schools in the Kapolei complex — Mauka Lani, Makakilo and Barbers Point— had an average of 604 students.

"The Kapolei region is the fastest-growing region in the state of Hawaii — that’s a fact," Har said. "But I feel like we often get the short end of the stick. Government created this ‘Second City’ concept and residents did their part by moving out here, but government hasn’t kept up with the infrastructure, and that includes schools.

"Now we have ourselves in a situation where Kapolei Elementary and Kapolei Middle have to be run year-round as multitrack schools — with six or seven different tracks — in order to accommodate the population because you have such an overload in capacity of students."

Har said she requested design funds this past legislative session for a new middle school and new high school for East Kapolei. Lawmakers agreed to include $3 million for the middle school and $5 million for the high school in the upcoming two-year capital improvement budget.

Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) said he was able to secure an $18 million appropriation in the state’s 2014 capital improvements budget for construction of a final wing at Ewa Makai Middle School. Once built, the added space will accommodate the school’s first class of sixth graders, which Espero says will help alleviate overcrowding at neighboring elementary schools that currently take sixth graders.

"Certainly there are still many families moving to the Ewa Plains and Ewa Beach areas, and we have to keep up with the infrastructure needs," Espero said.

Other highlights on the school construction list include:

» $11 million to install all-weather athletic surfaces at McKinley, Nanakuli and Wai­akea high schools.

» $6.58 million to upgrade electrical systems and prepare for future technology needs at seven schools.

» $5 million to renovate and modernize the auditorium at Kawananakoa Middle School into a performing arts center.

» $500,000 to create a technology center at Kauai High School with a computer lab and visual design studio.

» $195,000 to create a multimedia studio at Washington Middle School where students can broadcast live events, produce videos and learn other media skills.