Enrollment figures released for Hawaii’s public schools

The Department of Education said Thursday that there was little change in enrollment at public schools at the beginning of the school year.

The number of students enrolled is 167,649, compared with an enrollment of 168,634 students at the start of last school year — a difference of 0.6%, the DOE said in a new release.

The enrollment figures include distance learning and charter schools.

There are 37 DOE charter schools, with an enrollment of 12,424 students, 7.4%, the department said.

“The declining trend in enrollment counts over the past five school years reflects Hawai‘i’s overall declining birth rate over the last decade. Department data also show that families’ leading reason for removing their students from public schools is to relocate to the continent,” the news release said.

The five largest public high schools are Campbell, with an enrollment of 2,875; Waipahu, 2,516; Mililani, 2,432; Farrington, 2,072; and Moanalua, with 1,933.