Enrollment at Hawaii’s public schools declines for second year in a row

The pandemic has taken a toll on the enrollment at Hawaii’s public schools as the student population has dipped significantly for the second year in a row.

The state Department of Education announced Wednesday that over 3,000 fewer students enrolled in the statewide public school system this year over the start of last year — a decline of 1.7%.

Combine that figure with the previous year’s enrollment decline and it indicates that Hawaii’s public schools have lost nearly 8,000 students since the 2019-2020 school year.

It’s a trend seen across the country as public schools experienced a 3% decline in enrollment last year, most of which was blamed on the coronavirus pandemic.

“Public school districts nationwide have been seeing changes in enrollment as families adjust to living through a health pandemic,” interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in a release.

This year’s enrollment in public and charter schools is 171,600, a drop from the 174,704 students enrolled at the start of last school year.

Excluding the charter schools, DOE schools enrolled 159,503 students this year, compared with 162,491 students at the start of last school year, a 1.8% decrease. The figures include students enrolled in school, complex area or state distance learning programs.

The state’s 37 charter schools enrolled 12,097 students, a drop from the 12,213 the previous year. It’s the first enrollment decline among the charter schools in more than two decades.

Despite the overall decrease, enrollment for the current school year actually increased by 2,106 students since the end of the 2020-21 school year, DOE officials said.

The official enrollment count is taken 10 days after the start of the school year. Last school year, the Board of Education directed the department to capture enrollment snapshots quarterly.

“One of the department’s priorities for this school year is to reconnect and re-engage our students with their schools and with learning. Our schools have been doing a great job of reaching out into their communities to ensure that students and families know that schools are open and ready to support them,” Hayashi said.

Declining enrollment is not a new phenomenon for the DOE. Department records indicate that the system has lost nearly 14,000 students since the 2013-2014 school year.

Enrollment at private schools, meanwhile, has also trended downward, having lost about 4,500 students since the 2009-2010 school year.

Phil Bossert, executive director of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, said private school enrollment declined 1% last year. As for this year, some schools haven’t even opened yet, so the official count won’t be taken until October.

One reason for the school population declines is that nearly twice as many families in Hawaii decided to home-school their children last academic year compared to the year before, according to data from the public schools and the Census Bureau. Hawaii’s home­-schooling rate rose from 4.5% to 8.1%, a Census Bureau survey found.

The figures mirror a national trend that appears to reflect coronavirus concerns, more parents working at home and dissatisfaction with “remote learning,” officials said.

According to the National Home School Association, Hawaii’s population of home-schoolers has risen in recent years to about 6,000.

David Miyashiro, executive director of HawaiiKidsCAN, said lots of parents have told him they’re looking for flexible distance learning options and aren’t happy with what’s being offered by the department.

“With a shifting health situation, a lot of families want and need that flexibility,” he said.

Miyashiro said home-­schooling has become a lot more attractive to many families.

“The amount of quality online options is impressive,” he said.

But parents should know that they just can’t pull their child from school and call that home-schooling, Bossert said, adding that parents must file with the DOE before they can home-school legally.

Based on enrollment for the 2021-22 school year, the five largest public schools are Campbell (3,075), Waipahu (2,797), Mililani (2,603), Farrington (2,339) and Moanalua (2,108) high schools.

At the middle and intermediate school levels, Mililani Middle (1,585) is the largest followed by Ewa Makai Middle (1,254), Maui Waena Intermediate (1,140), Waipahu Intermediate (1,075) and Kalakaua Middle (978)

At the elementary school level, August Ahrens (1,219) is the largest, followed by Holomua (1,080), Ewa (1,035), Waipahu (926) and Keoneula (901)

The five smallest schools in the state include: Niihau High and Elementary (14), the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind (46) and Maunaloa Elementary (46), Kilohana Elementary (79) and Linapuni Elementary (97).

The five largest charter schools are: Hawaii Technology Academy (1,363), Kamaile Academy (919), Kihei Charter School (723), the Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences (706) and Ka Waihona O Ka Naauao (632).