> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://poolside.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Hawaiʻi's Public and Private Schools Adjust to Declining Birthrates - URL: https://poolside.ghost.io/hawai-is-public-and-private-schools-adjust-to-declining-birthrates/ - Published: 2026-09-19T23:58:22.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-20T10:14:54.000Z - Description: Public school enrollment has dropped below 150,000 for the first time in a decade, even as the charter sector grows. - Author: Jason Taira - Tags: Community # The Hawaiʻi Public Education Shift Public school enrollment has fallen back to a level the islands last saw in the early 2000s. 2013–14 Peak 186,850 Late 90s / 00s Avg 184,500 2026 Current 147,656 ## Statewide Demographic Contraction HIDOE non-charter enrollment fell below 150,000 for the first time in over a decade, down from a peak of 186,850 in 2013–14\. Annual live births in Hawaiʻi dropped to 14,917 in 2024, a decline of roughly 20 percent from the mid-2010s. Charter school enrollment, meanwhile, expanded to over 13,400 students, a share of approximately 8.3 percent. Current Enrollment 147,656 Charter Share 8.3% 2024 Live Births 14,917 ## ### By the Numbers > Hawaiʻi recorded 14,917 live births in 2024, down roughly a fifth from the mid-2010s. - Public schools enrolled 147,656 students this past fall. - 2026 marks the eighth consecutive year of decline, and the first time in at least a decade that non-charter HIDOE enrollment has fallen below 150,000. The education department attributes the fall to two forces: declining birth rates, and continued out-migration as families with young children leave the state. - Hawaiʻi's historical enrollment peak occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when public school enrollment reached between 184,000 and 185,000 students. - The highest single school year on record was 2013-2014 at 186,850. Remarkably, charter schools remain an outlier with more than 13,400 students statewide. "School consolidation is not just about closure; it is a tool for the strategic reallocation of resources to where students are currently moving." — Keith Hayashi, Superintendent, Hawaiʻi State Department of Education --- ### Expanding Charter Schools > Charter enrollment has risen for a third consecutive year, to more than 13,400 students statewide. - The gain this year was small, on the order of thirty students, but over the longer run the shift is clearer. - The charter share of public enrollment has grown from under 5 percent in 2010-11 to nearly 8 percent, an increase of more than half in a little over a decade. The attraction is flexibility. Charter schools set their own curriculum and can move quickly toward programs families are seeking. - Kūlia Academy, which opened in Kalihi in 2024, built its entire program around data science and artificial intelligence, and adds a grade each year as it grows. - Hawaiʻi Technology Academy, the state's largest statewide charter, runs a blended in-person and online model out of Waipahu; its enrollment has nearly doubled over the past decade, to about 2,200. > Charter schools receive no state capital funding to build or expand facilities. Popular campuses lease commercial space, or cap their rosters and hold waitlists. --- ### Increasing Enrollments in West Oʻahu While overall enrollments decline across the state, schools on Oʻahu's western districts are seeing steady growth: - Waiʻanae Elementary grew 14 percent this year - Hoʻokele Elementary in Kapolei grew 11 percent - Campbell High in ʻEwa Beach remains the largest school in the state, with more than 2,800 students. Schools in Oʻahu's urban core are seeing the sharpest declines: - Farrington High in Kalihi lost more than 100 students this year - Queen Liliʻuokalani Elementary in Kaimukī closed permanently in 2011 Net declines are projected to continue as Hawaiʻi's the resident base skews older, more seasonal, and more investor-held. --- ### The Public School Realignment and Closure Commission > House Bill 2344, now Act 264, became law this summer. It establishes a temporary, independent, nine-member **Public School Realignment and Closure Commission**, modeled on the federal process used to close military bases. The near-term steps are administrative: - The department has signaled redistricting first, with boundary changes targeted for the 2026-27 year and formal consolidation studies to follow in 2027 - The commission must publish its final report by October 2028, and the department must act on it by the end of the decade. - No mergers are expected before spring 2028. The Public School Realignment and Closure Commission is mandated to end on June 30, 2029. --- ### The Wrap The converging pressures of shrinking birth cohorts, persistent family out-migration, and shifting internal populations leave Hawaiʻi’s public education system at an unmistakable tipping point. With Act 264 now setting a binding timeline for the Public School Realignment and Closure Commission through 2028, holding patterns are no longer viable. If executed strategically, rightsizing the system offers Hawaiʻi a rare opportunity to reallocate scarce resources into modernized classrooms, specialized curricula, and high-demand charter alternatives where the state's keiki need them most. --- **Sources:** [Hawaiʻi Schools Continue To Lose Students — Civil Beat](https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/09/hawaii-schools-continue-to-lose-students/?ref=poolside.ghost.io) · [BOE Superintendent's Report, Sept 2026](https://boe.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/gbm%5Fsuptreport%5F20260910.pdf?ref=poolside.ghost.io) · [Enrollment peak and charter share — EdTribune](https://hi.edtribune.com/hi/2026-01-30-hi-all-counties-record-low/?ref=poolside.ghost.io) · [Charter enrollment rises for a third year — HI State Public Charter School Commission](https://www.chartercommission.hawaii.gov/charter-school-enrollment-in-hawai%CA%BBi-rises-for-third-consecutive-year?ref=poolside.ghost.io) · [Kūlia Academy — Civil Beat](https://www.civilbeat.org/2024/05/new-hawaii-charter-school-wants-to-prep-kids-for-a-future-where-ai-is-central-in-our-lives/?ref=poolside.ghost.io) · [New law creates panel to study school closures — Star-Advertiser](https://www.staradvertiser.com/2026/07/18/hawaii-news/new-law-creates-panel-to-study-school-closures/?ref=poolside.ghost.io) · [HB 2344 / Act 264](https://legiscan.com/HI/bill/HB2344/2026?ref=poolside.ghost.io) · [Live births, 2024 — March of Dimes PeriStats](https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/data?reg=15&top=2&stop=1&lev=1&slev=4&obj=1&sreg=15&ref=poolside.ghost.io)