Public and charter school enrollment for 2023-24 down slightly across the state

Enrollment at Hawaiʻi’s public schools is 167,649 at the beginning of the school year, down just 0.6% from the 168,634 students enrolled at the start of last school year.

The figures represent students enrolled in Department of Education schools, including students enrolled in the Department’s distance learning program, and public charter schools. The state’s 37 charter schools enrolled 7.4% of public school students this year: a total of 12,427 students.

The declining trend in enrollment counts over the past five school years reflects Hawaiʻi’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.

Based on enrollment for the 2023-24 school year, the five largest HIDOE public schools by grade level are:

• High schools (grades 9-12): Campbell (2,875), Waipahu (2,516), Mililani (2,432), Farrington (2,072), Moanalua (1,933)
• Middle (grades 6-8) and intermediate schools (grades 7-8): Mililani Middle (1,672), ‘Ewa Makai Middle (1,253), Waipahu Intermediate (1,147), Maui Waena Intermediate (1,126), Kaimukī Middle (1,006)
• Elementary schools: August Ahrens (1,153), ‘Ewa (1,115), Holomua (1,070), Kealakehe (889), Keone‘ula (862)

The five smallest HIDOE schools in the state include: Ni‘ihau High and Elementary (20), Maunaloa Elementary (43), the Hawaiʻi School for the Deaf and the Blind (52), Kilohana Elementary (79), and Keolu Elementary (91).

The five largest charter schools are: Hawaiʻi Technology Academy (1,605), Kamaile Academy (893), the Hawaiʻi Academy of Arts and Sciences (708), Kīhei Charter School (676), and Ka Waihona o ka Naʻauao (626).

As of the “Official Enrollment Count” date of Aug. 21, 2023, four Lahainaluna Complex schools on Maui–Lahainaluna High, Lahaina Intermediate, Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary and King Kamehameha III Elementary–had not yet opened due to the Maui wildfire emergency. The enrollment for Lahainaluna Complex schools is based on the students who were pre-registered at the school before the start of the school year and did not transfer to another school or withdraw by the OEC date.

The four Lahainaluna Complex schools on Maui impacted by the Aug. 8 wildfires saw a combined enrollment decrease of 585 students compared to the previous school year while other Maui schools saw enrollment increases due to this fluctuation of displaced students.

The Department is closely tracking students as they continue to re-enroll in other options, including at other HIDOE schools, distance learning programs, charter schools or private schools, or withdraw to homeschools or relocate out of state.