HONOLULU — Enrollment at Hawai‘i’s public and charter schools for the 2022-23 school year decreased to 168,634 students, compared with an enrollment of 171,600 students at the start of last school year — a difference of 1.7%.
The state Department of Education schools enrolled a total of 156,518 students this year, compared with 159,503 students at the start of last school year, a 1.9% decrease. The figures include students enrolled in schools and the state distance-learning program. The state’s 37 charter schools enrolled a total of 12,116 students, compared with 12,097 the previous year.
The declining trend in enrollment counts over the past four school years reflects Hawai‘i’s overall declining birth rate over the last decade. Department data show that families’ leading reason for removing their students from public schools is for relocation to mainland states.
Based on enrollment for the 2022-23 school year, the five largest DOE public schools by grade level are:
High schools: Campbell (3,039), Waipahu (2,661), Mililani (2,565), Farrington (2,238), Moanalua (2,064);
Middle schools: Mililani Middle (1,580), ‘Ewa Makai Middle (1,119), Waipahu Intermediate (1,084), Maui Waena Intermediate (1,044), Kaimuki Middle (950);
Elementary schools: August Ahrens (1,164), ‘Ewa (1,086), Holomua (1,071), Keone‘ula (915), Waipahu (853).
The five smallest DOE schools in the state include Ni‘ihau High and Elementary (17), Maunaloa Elementary (46), the Hawai‘i School for the Deaf and the Blind (53), Kilohana Elementary (75), and Waiahole Elementary (91).
The five largest charter schools are Hawai‘i Technology Academy (1,403), Kamaile Academy (949), Kihei Charter School (693), the Hawai‘i Academy of Arts and Sciences (683), and Kanu O Ka ‘Aina (612).