Eight Years in a Row: Hawaiʻi Schools Continue to Lose Students as Young Families Flee State

CB: … Hawaiʻi schools have fewer students for the eighth year in a row as lawmakers push for campus closures and consolidations by the end of the decade, according to recent data from the state education department. 

This fall marks the first time in at least a decade that student enrollment in the Department Education dipped below 150,000. Public schools enrolled a total of 147,656 kids this year, nearly a 2% drop from last fall. 

A decade ago, public schools enrolled nearly 170,000 students. The education department has attributed the drop in students to declining birth rates and families with young children leaving the state. …

Read … Hawaiʻi Schools Continue To Lose Students - Honolulu Civil Beat

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HIDOE releases 2026-27 enrollment figures, with 161,102 students statewide

News Release from Hawaii DoE, Sep 11, 2026

PDF: View Report

HONOLULU — The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education (HIDOE) released official enrollment figures for the 2026-27 school year, with 161,102 students enrolled in Hawai‘i’s public and charter schools, a 1.6% decrease from 163,651 students last school year. 

The statewide count includes students at 258 HIDOE schools, including the Department’s distance learning program, and 38 public charter schools. Excluding charter schools, enrollment in HIDOE schools is 147,656, which includes students in grades K-12 and special education pre-kindergarten. 

Hawai‘i’s enrollment trends reflect broader demographic shifts occurring across the state and nation, including declining birth rates and a shrinking school-age population. Population movement and changes in where families live are also contributing to enrollment shifts among individual schools and communities.

While statewide enrollment declined overall, the change was not uniform across schools and communities. Ninety-three public schools, nearly one-third statewide, recorded enrollment increases this school year, reflecting continued shifts in where students and families reside. 

For the 2026-27 school year, the 10 largest schools by enrollment are: 

1. James Campbell High: 2,884 
2. Hawaiʻi Technology Academy (charter school): 2,416 
3. Waipahu High: 2,409
4. Mililani High: 2,306 
5. Moanalua High: 1,957 
6. Gov. Wallace Rider Farrington High: 1,846 
7. Kapolei High: 1,755
8. Leilehua High: 1,549
9. Mililani Middle: 1,544
10. Kalani High: 1,480 

Thirty-one public schools have enrollments of 1,000 students or more, including HIDOE high schools statewide, five middle schools, two elementary schools and Hawaiʻi Technology Academy, a charter school that offers a distance learning curriculum.

The 10 smallest schools by enrollment are: 

1. Niihau High and Elementary: 10
2. Ke Ana Laʻahana (charter school): 14
3. Kula Aupuni Niihau A Kahelelani Aloha (charter school): 32
4. The Hawaiʻi School for the Deaf and the Blind: 45
5. Ke Kula Niihau o Kekaha (charter school): 48 
6. Hakipuʻu Academy (charter school): 52
7. Maunaloa Elementary: 64
8. Kilohana Elementary: 66
9. Olomana School: 67 
10. Hoʻokena Elementary: 83 

The 10 smallest schools include four charter schools, two HIDOE schools serving specialized student populations and four HIDOE elementary schools in rural communities. With the exception of Hoʻokena Elementary, all have consistently ranked among the state’s smallest public schools by enrollment over the past decade.

The 10 schools with greatest year-over-year enrollment increases are listed below, ordered by current enrollment:

1. Hawaiʻi Technology Academy (charter school): 2,416, increase of 187
2. Hoʻokele Elementary: 857, increase of 86 
3. Āliamanu Middle: 783, increase of 47 
4. 1SG Samuel K. Solomon Elementary: 665, increase of 43 
5. Admiral C.W. Nimitz Elementary: 601, increase of 54 
6. Kūlanihākoʻi High: 600, increase of 47 
7. Waiʻanae Elementary: 485, increase of 61 
8. Kamaliʻi Elementary: 367, increase of 40
9. West Hawaiʻi Explorations PCS (charter school): 319, increase of 46
10. Kūlia Academy (charter school): 271, increase of 118 students 

The HIDOE school with the largest enrollment increase was Hoʻokele Elementary in Kapolei, an area experiencing continued housing and community development.

The 10 schools with greatest year-over-year enrollment decreases are listed below, ordered by current enrollment:

1. Gov. Wallace Rider Farrington High: 1,846, decline of 158 
2. Maui High: 1,462, decline of 82
3. Kealakehe High: 1,352, decline of 78
4. President William McKinley High: 1,072, decline of 61
5. August Ahrens Elementary: 1,049, decline of 56 
6. Nānākuli High & Intermediate: 831, decline of 79
7. Hawaiʻi Academy of Arts & Science (charter school): 722, decline of 56
8. ʻEwa Beach Elementary: 653, decline of 55 
9. DreamHouse ʻEwa Beach (charter school): 473, decline of 109
10. Kahakai Elementary: 438, decline of 56 students

Among these schools, year-over-year enrollment declines ranged from 5% to 19%.